July 22, 2018: Hodeidah: Still no fighting in the city; propaganda battle; civilians are suffering – 36 hours at Sanaa – The Houthis (in German) – The UAE torture prisons in Yemen again – Houthi torture – US and Yemen – US neoconservatim and Yemen – and more

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition continued its aerial and ground campaign in Yemen with little let-up. In September 2014, Houthi forces and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh took control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and much of the country. In March 2015, the coalition, with military assistance from the United States, attacked Houthi-Saleh forces in support of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

After clashes broke out between the former allies in Sanaa, Houthi forces killed former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on December 4 as he tried to leave the city.

The armed conflict has taken a terrible toll on the civilian population. The coalition has conducted scores of indiscriminate and disproportionate airstrikes hitting civilian objects that have killed thousands of civilians in violation of the laws of war, with munitions that the US, United Kingdom, and others still supply. Houthi-Saleh forces have fired artillery indiscriminately into cities such as Taizz and Aden, killing civilians, and launched rockets into southern Saudi Arabia.

As of November, at least 5,295 civilians had been killed and 8,873 wounded, according to the UN human rights office, although the actual civilian casualty count is likely much higher.

The war is also exacerbating the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe. Both sides are unlawfully impeding the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.

The coalition has used cluster munitions, while Houthi-Saleh forces have used antipersonnel landmines—both weapons are banned by international treaties.

Both sides have harassed, threatened, and attacked Yemeni activists and journalists. Houthi-Saleh forces, government-affiliated forces, and the United Arab Emirates and UAE-backed Yemeni forces have arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared scores.

None of the states party to the conflict carried out meaningful investigations into their forces’ alleged violations.

Unlawful Airstrikes

Human Rights Watch has documented 85 apparently unlawful coalition airstrikes, which have killed nearly 1,000 civilians and hit homes, markets, hospitals, schools, and mosques. Some of these attacks may amount to war crimes. In March, a helicopter attacked a boat carrying Somali migrants and refugees off Yemen’s coast, killing and wounding dozens.

In 2017, Saudi Arabia pledged to reduce civilian harm in coalition attacks. Since then, Human Rights Watch documented six coalition attacks that killed 55 civilians, including 33 children; one killed 14 members of the same family. The UN Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) office reported in September that coalition airstrikes remain “the leading cause of civilian casualties.”

Human Rights Watch documented attacks by both Houthi-Saleh and government-aligned forces inside Yemen that have struck populated neighborhoods, killing and wounding civilians. Over three days in May, artillery attacks in Taizz, most of them carried out by Houthi-Saleh forces, killed at least 12 civilians, including four children, and wounded 29, including 10 children. The OHCHR called the shelling of Taizz “unrelenting.”

Landmines

Landmines appear to have killed and maimed hundreds of civilians, disrupted civilian life in affected areas, and will pose a threat to civilians long after the conflict ends.

Houthi-Saleh forces have used landmines in at least six governorates. Human Rights Watch investigated 10 incidents where landmines laid by Houthi-Saleh forces in Sanaa, Marib, Aden, and Taizz killed two people and wounded eight.

Yemen suffers from a shortage of equipped and trained personnel who can systematically clear mines and explosive remnants of war.

Yemen is a party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

Cluster Munitions

Human Rights Watch has documented the Saudi-led coalition using six types of widely banned cluster munitions, including those produced in the US and Brazil, in attacks that targeted populated areas, killing and wounding dozens.

The US suspended transfers of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia in 2016. On December 19, 2016, the coalition announced it would stop using a UK-made cluster munition. A few days earlier, a cluster munition attack hit near two local schools in northern Yemen, killing two civilians and wounding six, including a child. Another attack in February 2017 hit a farm, wounding two boys. In both attacks, the coalition used Brazilian-made cluster munitions.

Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and other coalition states are not party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Arbitrary Detentions, Torture, and Enforced Disappearances

Terrorism and Counterterrorism

Blocking and Impeding Humanitarian Access

Children and Armed Conflict

Women’s and Girls’ Rights

Accountability

None of the warring parties carried out credible investigations into their forces’ alleged laws-of-war violations. In September, the OHCHR concluded that efforts towards accountability were “wholly insufficient.”

The coalition-appointed Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) did not conduct credible investigations, failing to release full investigation reports or detailed information on their methodology, including how they determine which strikes to investigate, or whether or not they have the power to ensure prosecutions of individuals responsible for war crimes. JIAT has not clarified which state’s forces participated in the attacks it investigated. While in a few strikes JIAT recommended the coalition pay compensation, the coalition does not appear to have made any concrete progress toward creating a compensation system.

The US is not known to have conducted investigations into any alleged unlawful attacks in which its forces have taken part.

In September, for the third time, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recommended establishing an independent, international mechanism to investigate alleged abuses by all sides in Yemen. That month, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted by consensus a resolution creating a Group of Eminent Experts to conduct an international investigation into violations and abuses in Yemen.

Key International Actors

Members of the coalition have sought to avoid international legal liability by refusing to provide information on their role in unlawful attacks. The Saudi-led coalition consists of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan; Qatar withdrew in June.

The US is a party to the conflict and risks being complicit in unlawful coalition attacks in which it takes part. The US continues to provide in-air refueling and other support to the coalition, but has not provided detailed information on the extent and scope of its engagement.

The UK has provided diplomatic support, training, and weaponry to members of the coalition. UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia are the subject of ongoing litigation in the UK.

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

Since the Houthi rebels took the capital of Yemen three years ago, Sanaa has been under siege. Ana Van Es drives there, through the frontline. Among all the decay, it appears there is still a Ministry of Tourism. And everywhere you go, death is wished upon America and Israel.

Trucks in a tailback on the frontline route

Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, which has been in the hands of Houthi rebels since 2015, is under siege, but won’t give up. In the past years, the anti-Houthi-coalition led by Saudi Arabia has repeatedly carried out air strikes on the city, often with bombs made in Western arms factories. Hundreds of civilians died in those air strikes. The Sanaa airport is closed to civil aircraft, as ordered by the coalition. But if they intended to cut the city off from the outside world, they’ve failed. Many other roads lead to Sanaa.

The war in Yemen is one in which you can drive through the frontline by car. A couple of kilometers down the road, battles are fought to the death, but several roads are open to all traffic. Yemenites cross through the frontline with a deftness betraying routine. After all, the battle between the government and the Houthi rebels is intertwined with the genesis of Yemen as we know it.

The Shelves remain stocked

The frontline routes, an attempt to maintain a workable situation during the war, are not without risk. It’s at least a ten-hour drive from the rebel town of Sanaa to Aden, the temporary capital of the internationally acknowledged government, mostly on unpaved mountain roads. Every few minutes, there’s a checkpoint manned by militia fighters, subjecting travelers to interrogations and the risk of being arrested, as well as the danger of nearby battles coming a little too close for comfort.

And yet, the road is used a lot. Busloads of passengers commute back and forth. As soon as the sun sets, the tailbacks start: endless parades of trucks, cargo piled on high in the port of Aden, moseying along on the unpaved mountain roads leading north, to stock Sanaa. In the eastern direction, there’s a lifeline from Oman to Sanaa, via the city of Marib, which has become rich from the frontline trade in household gas.

All parties profit from this arrangement. Pro-government fighters make money from charging a toll at the checkpoints. In Sanaa, the shelves remain stocked, with or without air blockade.

“It’s an informal agreement: that road must remain open”, says Maeen Abdul Malik Saeed, Minister of Public Works and Highways in the internationally acknowledged government. Keeping the frontline routes accessible is his most important task. From Aden, he confers about this with the enemy in Sanaa. Not with the minister of the rebel cabinet, that’s prohibited. But with civil servants in charge of road crews, so that the Houthis will continue to maintain the roads as well.

A perfect world of illusions with only one blemish

The tour by Mohammed and Fouaz, the civil servants working for the rebels, starts at the heart of the humanitarian drama that Yemen has become: the Severe Acute Malnutrition Ward of the Seventy Hospital, better known as ‘the hunger room’. This is where malnourished children end up, or children suffering from cholera, or both. Like Basha, with her protruding belly. At four months old, she’s still at the weight of a newborn baby: 2,4 kilos. She’s from the countryside. Her father sells qat. Her mother, dressed in black robes, also appears to be skin and bones. They weren’t able to afford going to the hospital sooner.

“It’s difficult for the mothers to leave their village, to leave the other children at home”, says doctor Hannah Abdelrahman. “If they’re too late, the children die in the emergency room.”

The visit to the hospital provides a rare opportunity to talk to the regular inhabitants of Sanaa. Aside from them, I only manage to speak to high officials of the Houthi government during my 36-hour stay.

What is on the program? An interview with the minister of Tourism. In war-torn Sanaa, his ministry is firing on all cylinders.

It’s a perfect world of illusions, with only one blemish: tourists have long stopped coming to Yemen. When was the last one here? The Minister, Nassir Mahfouz, has no idea. “Years ago.” Why the Ministry of Tourism even still exists? “That’s a difficult question.”

Because of a shrewd move, the money’s gone

In the streets, Sanaa seems plagued by problems of a different order. The money’s gone, because of what was possibly the government’s shrewdest move in this war: moving the Central Bank of Sanaa to Aden. With the goal of draining all of the Houthis’ reserves.

With the move of the Central Bank to Aden, the last reserves are gone. In Sanaa, they tried to use food stamps to enable people to buy food. The attempt failed, because there is no money to pay shop keepers afterwards. Then how are the inhabitants keeping themselves alive? By becoming self-sufficient. “People are moving from the city to the country villages where they were born, and growing their own food there.” – by Ana van Es

My comment: This sentence referring to the Houthi parols painted and fixed verywhere is quite odd: “How are Saudi pilots to understand that their bombs could kill innocent families, when this slogan is painted on houses?” ????????????????

Comment: Dutch journalist sneaked in #Sanaa for a day and a half: this is her report.

note: employees at the Ministry of Tourism have not received salary like all the rest of public servants

A Prisoner’s Story of Capture, Detention and Torture in a Secret UAE Prison in Yemen

“They were hanging me for a long time and electrocuted me. I was screaming from beatings so intense that I could feel our cell shake then I went unconscious.”

“They come to strip off our clothes not to liberate us. After taking your clothes off, they tie your hands to a steel pole from the right and the left so you are spread open in front of them. Then the sodomizing starts,” a released prisoner from a secret United Arab Emirates prison black-site, who only wanted to be identified as A.F.D. in fear of retaliation, told MintPress. “Please do not mention my name.”

He continued:

All I could think of was Abu Ghraib. But if you compare the [UAE-Saudi-led coalition] secret prisons to Guantanamo Bay detention camp, it’s no exaggeration, you could make the argument that these Saudi-UAE prisons are much worse.”

The 55-year-old civilian from Yemen`s southern province of Aden told MintPress he was abducted from his home and kept in a secret UAE prison for 18 months on charges of raising the flag of Yemen, signifying his support for a unified Yemen and opposition to the UAE’s military occupation of the southern district:

They blindfolded me and drove me to an unknown place, later I knew it was al Mushar military base run by Abu al Yamamah, then they took me to a jail.”

A.F.D. had been moved across the network of secret UAE prisons multiple times where he was interrogated dozens of times. During his interrogations, he was tortured with electricity, sexual violence, beatings, and attack dogs while blindfolded and chained down.

“They were hanging me for a long time and electrocuted me, I was screaming from beatings so intense that I could feel our cell shake, then I went unconscious,” A.F.D. told MintPress.The effects of the shocks are evident on his body. “In one of the torture sessions, four brothers [Sa’id, Abdul, Hakim and Ahmed] from the Manser family in Aden, had been hanged in front of us.”

Hundreds of detainees from Aden, Hadramout provinces and Al Mukha city suffered similar abuses, including sexual violence, in the UAE-run secret prisons across southern Yemen:

Cells are overcrowded, guards are cruel, there is indiscriminate violence. I even saw a young boy being raped. For a long time, he refused to eat because of the appalling shock.”

A.F.D. spoke to MintPress with a broken nose and suffering from severe pain running down his spine. He recalled a day when he and his prison mates were sexually abused:

You know, there was an Emirati officer named Hitler. He would chant ‘Do you know who I am? I am Hitler…Hitler!’ when he would walk on our bare bodies after lining us up and forcing us to lie down.”

Red scars on A.F.D.’s hand could be seen at a glance, as he flailed his arms while recalling how he was tortured:

The prisoners screamed and wept. Those who were kidnapped were threatened by barking dogs and beaten until they bled. Hitler has a dog called Shakeira.”

A.F.D.’s story is just one of thousands of Yemeni civilians who had been held without trial and tortured at a UAE-run prison in Yemen’s southern districts.

An investigation by the Associated Press in 2017 revealed a network of 18 secret prisons set up and run by the United Arab Emirates across southern Yemen. The 2017 investigation found that nearly 2,000 Yemenis had been disappeared into prisons where extreme torture techniques were normally used, including a “grill” in which the victim “is tied to a spit like a roast and spun in a circle of fire.”

Lawyers and families of many of the disappeared victims told MintPress that the number of those kidnapped is actually much higher, estimating that over 2,500 men disappeared inside these secret prisons. Each day that number increases placing an emotional strain on the victims’ families.

In response, local families have been actively organizing weekly vigils to demand information about their children, parents and brothers’ disappearances.

“Our life in an endless nightmare where our loved ones have been forcibly disappeared. when we demand to know where our loved ones are held, or if they are even still alive, our requests are met with intimidation.” a 40-years-old brother of Ba Huirith who was forcibly hidden told MintPress.

Families working with local attorneys created a list with the missing names of those disappeared and launched an international legal campaign in hopes to draw attention from Western human rights groups in an attempt to secure their loved one’s release if they are still alive.

Despite the AP findings and campaigns launched by the victims’ families, the UAE denied and continues to deny that it runs any kind of prisons in Yemen – by Ahmed Abdulkareem (with photos)

MintPress News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

Al-Sharqi .. A story of torture and suffering in the Houthi prisons narrated by his relatives and witnesses and doctors

The pharmaceutical doctor, Munir Al-Sharqi, was not one story to tell the tragedies of the detainees in al-Houthi prisons, but rather to tell hundreds of stories of torture and hazing of abductees in the militia's jails.

The testimonies of Al Sharqi relatives, witnesses and doctors, the extent of torture suffered in al-Houthi prisons, reached the point of loss of speaking, and the difficulty of first identifying his family because of the burns appearing on him.

A press conference was held on Saturday in Maribe, to uncover the crime committed by the militia against the Sharqi.

The doctor, Mohammad Afad, spoke about the case of Dr. Al-Sharqi since he arrived at the medical center of the Sharaab district in Ta'izz more than a month ago, after he was thrown into a district by al-Houthi, saying "the Sharqi doctor was delivered to the medical centre and his body was covered with burns and worms exiting from multiple parts of his body and nose The tissues were completely burned in several areas with his back and neck, and he had traces of torture and acupuncture at the bottom of his feet.»

"It was a very scary and painful view and it smelled rotten, and because of my fear of escaping from the center because of its smell and hideous condition, I had to do first-aid operations to clean up the sterilizers out of the center, and then we entered it and completed the first aid until it was transferred to Ta'izz and then to Marib. To receive treatment».

For his part, Abdul Raqeeb. Fazeaa revealed how to find Sharqi , saying in his testimony «I was passing by one of the areas and I watched a vehicle on which soldiers threw something and after leaving the vehicle I went to see what was there and someone found him and I thought he was dead, but I noticed he was still breathing. "

"I stopped a car and moved it to the medical center where Dr. Mohammad Fazeaa took the first aid and cleaned it and because he is an unknown person we forced to spread a photo through social media sites maybe someone he can identify and we did succeed and connect with me his brother came to us and then we coordinated with some of the Jurists to shed light on his case and find a way to take him to treatment in a large hospital. "

Sahrqi brother, in turn, talked about the trauma that his family had experienced when they knew his image of social media, so they made sure he was actually the person that people talked about his brother.

"After the photos were spread and his case reached the media, the al-Houthi militia sent a set of gunmen and surrounded my father's house in the village to push for saying that my brother burned himself."

The Director general of Marib Hospital, Dr. Mohammad Al-Qubati, explained that al-Sharqi had arrived at Marib Hospital, suffering from second-and third-degree burns and that 25 percent of the body burned with acid was likely to be "acid" and parts of the burned areas became dead.

He noted that Sharqi suffers from a severe drought and this is evidence that the militia deprived it of the most basic form of nutrition. After medical examinations, it became clear that the protein and salts ratio was too low, which meant that the patient had been neglected for several days.

According to Dr. Qubati , the medical condition of Sharqiconfirms that he was subjected to brutal torture so that he lost his ability to concentrate and not to be able to detect him.

He said the Oriental is currently in need of surgical operations in specialized centers outside Yemen, reconstruction of his body and psychological rehabilitation

Houthis intimidate elderly to absolve them of torturing his son to insanity

As the story of Muneer al-Mashriqi, a political activist that Houthis tortured to insanity, went viral on websites and attracted widespread attention, the militia have intimidated Muneer's father to absolve them of the responsibility for what they did to his son.

Sources close to Muneer said the Islamic extremist rebels sent a convoy of gunmen and a reporter from their TV network "al-Masirah" to al-Mashriqis house in Dhamar in central Yemen to have him utter statements of the rebels' responsibility for driving Muneer to insanity and skinning him alive over the course of one year of psychological and physical torture.

The sources said the militants "started with enticing him the elderly man with money to absolve their militia of responsibility for torturing his son. As he refused, the militants threatened him and the whole family and village if he does not." It is not known if the clan of Muneer has yielded to the threats until the time of reporting.

We have yet to learn of any large and widespread U.S. demonstrations on behalf of the children and families of Yemen, where the U.S. is deeply complicit in the creation of a situation that “looks,” in the words of the United Nations’ humanitarian chief, “like the Apocalypse.” UNICEF reported last year that a child dies from preventable causes on the average of once every 10 minutes in Yemen.

As the Associated Press (AP) reported last May, roughly 3 million Yemeni women and children are “acutely malnourished; another 400,000 children are fighting for their lives.”

Yemen is now home to what Ferguson calls “the worst cholera outbreak in modern history. Now every time the rains comes, people fall ill.”

“American Made”

The cause? In “mainstream” U.S. media, the Yemeni children and families suffering this near “apocalypse” are victims of a three-year-old war between Yemen’s Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels who hold the country’s north, and a Saudi Arabian-led coalition, armed and backed by the United States. But there is little evidence of significant Iranian involvement in Yemen. The desperately poor nation’s “civil war” is a remarkably one-sided affair in which the world’s only Superpower (the United States) has been providing critical support for what amounts to the crucifixion of millions of innocent children and families. Combined with a vicious economic blockade, the US-Saudi coalition’s relentless bombing campaign has collapsed Yemen’s economy, leaving two-thirds of the population to depend outside on food aid for survival. The air onslaughts have devastated much of Yemen’s basic infrastructure so that more than half the population lacks access to safe drinking water – the key cause of the cholera epidemic.

Historical Continuities

The Trump administration’s funding and equipping of the savage war on Yemen shares three key characteristics with the “zero tolerance” immigration policy that Trump was recently forced to (partially and haltingly) rescind. First, it unconscionably uses innocent children and families as hostages and pawns in the advance of White House policy goals.

Second, it is richly consistent with U.S. policy stretching far back in history (see this on the long U.S. record of family separation and thison the long U.S. history of directly and indirectly attacking and killing children and other civilians in foreign nations).

Third, it is consistent with Barack Obama’s record.

Why No Mass Marches for Yemeni Children?

Clearly the murder of tens of thousands of (Yemeni) children is a bigger crime than the undoubted transgression of traumatically if (hopefully temporarily) separating 2300 Central American children form their migrant parents. Why don’t hundreds of thousands of U.S.-Americans march on behalf of Yemeni children and families killed, maimed, starved, sickened, and otherwise placed at grave risk by Washington and its Arab allies?

Differences of geographical proximity and familiarity are part of the explanation. Equally if not more significant: the dominant U.S media’s systematic under-reporting of U.S, imperial aggression in the Middle East; that media’s portrayal of is the Yemen war as a regional Sunni-Shia and Saudi-Iranian conflict in which the U.S. is only peripherally involved; the Yemeni victims’ status as Muslim Others who are linked in the dominant U.S. media and politics culture with the officially U.S,- and Israel-demonized state of Iran (a nation that all too unmentionably looks like a model of democracy, social justice, and women’s rights in comparison to its regional arch-enemy and Washington’s “good friend” the absolutist and arch-reactionary state of Saudi Arabia). For these and other reasons, the Democratic Party establishment sees no political advantage in confronting Trump on U.S. Yemen policy, a policy in which both reigning U.S. political parties are deeply complicit – by Paul Street

Lu’s column seemed strange to me because it takes neoconservative talking points about benevolent global hegemony at face value more than fifteen years after the invasion of Iraq. I would have thought it obvious by now that neoconservatives and their allied hard-liners profess benevolent intentions while endorsing illegal and cruel policies that inflict enormous suffering and death on many other countries. Their professed concern for freedom is selective and cynical, and they have no interest in holding U.S. allies and clients accountable for their abuses and crimes. Their habits of exaggerating foreign threats and demanding military action when no U.S. interests are at stake haven’t changed and remain as dangerous as ever. They wrap up this toxic combination in rhetoric about liberal values and world order and then proceed to trample on the principles they claim to espouse. The U.S. has frequently resorted to the use of force around the globe over the last twenty-five years, and that use of force has usually done far more harm than good and it has almost always left the affected countries worse off than they were before. The U.S. and the world have no need for renewed interest in what neoconservatives are offering.

The “mistakes” of U.S. foreign policy impose staggering costs on tens of millions of people overseas. It is woefully inadequate simply to “acknowledge” them after the fact and then return to the same reckless ideological assumptions that made those “mistakes” possible. Indeed, it is not enough to call them mistakes. They need to be described accurately as crimes and abuses of power. If the U.S. can be a force for good in some situations, it is important to realize that it has been a destructive force in the parts of the world where it has been most willing to use force to achieve its goals. Across the Middle East and North Africa in particular, the U.S. has started, joined, or supported wars in the last two decades that have killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and put many millions more on the cusp of starvation. All of this devastation hasn’t made the U.S. more secure, and continuing down this path will only create more enemies. Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has frequently used force when it didn’t need to in places where it had no reason to be involved against people that posed no threat to America. There is nothing good about that, and we should stop telling ourselves that there is.

As we speak, the U.S. is aiding and abetting the Saudi coalition in Yemen as it commits war crimes against civilians and causes the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The U.S. has made itself the enemy of tens of millions of Yemenis who never did anything to us and posed no threat to anyone. Neoconservatives have nothing to say against U.S. support for the war on Yemen, because they are in favor of it. When thepoliticiansaligned with themhavetalked about it, they have dutifully echoed Saudi talking points and voted against any measure that might restrict or halt U.S. military assistance to the coalition – by Daniel Larison

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics

(* A H)

There are 132 cases of dengue fever in Marib

The Ministry of Public Health and Population of Marib governorate, east of Yemen, said Thursday evening that it had recorded 132 cases of "dengue fever" "In various parts of the province, in recent weeks.

In a statement to the Anatolian version, the government office issued a distress call for government and international agencies and international and local organizations to intervene urgently to deal with

The statement warned of the seriousness of health developments in the province, including "the rapid spread of many diseases and epidemics such as measles, cholera and diphtheria, and and lastly, the spread of dengue fever. "

The statement did not provide statistics on the number of persons infected with diseases and epidemics, other than" dengue fever. "

Provision and continuation of antiretroviral therapy during acute conflict: the experience of MSF in Central African Republic and Yemen

Background

Unstable settings present challenges for the effective provision of antiretroviral treatment (ART). In this paper, we summarize the experience and results of providing ART and implementing contingency plans during acute instability in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Yemen.

Conclusions

This experience provides further evidence that provision of HIV treatment and emergency drug stocks can be successfully provided to most patients in both conflict-affected settings.

Yemeni army arrests local elements cooperating with Houthis in Hodeidah

The Yemeni army foiled a Houthi offensive into positions south of Yemen’s Hodeidah province on Sunday, Saudi state-news channel Al-Ekhbariya reported. Military sources said “army forces supported by the Arab coalition foiled a militia infiltration attempt and attack in the hopes of recovering positions in the region that it had lost.” The army also arrested local elements working for the militia within the same province. A military source told the Yemeni Defense Ministry’s official website, September Net, that those arrested were relaying army position coordinates to the Houthi militia. Elsewhere, a report published by local activists revealed that more than 40 civilians were killed by Houthi bombardments in Hays province south of Hodeidah. According to the report, among those killed were 14 children, and among the more than 100 wounded, were 40 also children. The report also stated that the Houthi attacks damaged more than 100 houses, eight farms, five mosques and four government facilities.

My comment: In case the Houthis arrest people “relaying army position coordinates to the” enemy, Saudi coalition propaganda is outraged.

(* A K pS P)

Houthis in Yemen Use Humanitarian Aid to Lure Refugees to Join their Ranks

The Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen recently launched intense efforts among refugees in an attempt to recruit them, informed Yemeni sources in the northwestern Hajjah province said. The militias are luring the refugees to join their ranks in exchange for receiving international humanitarian aid. The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the militant governor of Hajjah Hilal al-Soufi gathered hundreds of refugees in the Hard directorate where they forced their sons to head to the battlefield in return for receiving food relief sent by international organizations. Similar gatherings were staged in the Abs region in violation of international and humanitarian laws that bar the exploitation of war refugees and forced recruitment. The Houthis have heavily looted the humanitarian aid that has been sent to Hajjah. The relief is seized and sold in the market or used to lure refugees to join their ranks. Such practices have also been reported in Sanaa, Taiz and Dhamar. The militias have also prevented hundreds of refugee families from heading to Aden and other regions that are controlled by the legitimate forces. They instead forced the families to turn back and return to areas under their control, such as Sanaa, Ibb and Dhamar. Rights activists told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis arrested over the past two days more than a hundred civilians, travelers and activists in Sanaa, Dhamar and al-Baydha. They have been falsely charged with helping the legitimate government and Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Yemeni experts believe that the Houthi group is unable to keep control of the strategic port city of Hodeidah for a long time, despite efforts to reinforce through mobilizing hundreds of new tribal fighters from northern provinces.

A field commander of the pro-government Giants Brigades told Xinhua by phone that the Houthi group formed a new force called "the Hussein battalions" as an attempt to confront the pro-government forces in Hodeidah and the Red Sea coast areas.

"We arrested some fighters during the fighting in Hodeidah and after investigations we discovered that they received advanced military trainings under the supervision of foreign experts," the Yemeni field commander revealed anonymously.

"The Houthis recruited hundreds of tribal fighters and joined them with the Hussein battalions and after receiving well training they were brought to Hodeidah to confront the government forces," the source said.

Adeeb Sayed, a political analyst and writer based in southern Yemen, said the Houthis will not surrender peacefully or acknowledge defeat in Hodeidah easily.

"It is clear that the government forces have the upper hand in Hodeidah and the Houthi rebel group is not gaining the battles as it lost many areas and hundreds of its fighters died by Saudi-led airstrikes, but the group's leaders keep disputing that," Adeeb told Xinhua.

The strategic military expert Ali Naji Obeid confirmed that the the tough battles between the UAE-backed Yemeni forces and the Houthi fighters in Hodeidah haven't started yet.

Obeid said retaking Hodeidah's strategic seaport from Houthis and ending the presence of the Iranian-backed militias in the country's western part need well-planned massive battles that will be tough at the same time.

"The Houthis will use densely populated areas as military sites for their fighters, making it difficult for UAE-backed forces advance or attack the rebels by artillery or airstrikes," Obeid told Xinhua.

He pointed out that the Saudi Arabia-led coalition might use new military strategies to defeat the Houthi rebel group that is using residential areas as a shield for its fighters in Hodeidah.

Huge weapons cargos will be airdropped along with elite special troops into Houthi-held areas inside Hodeidah including the seaport to pave the way for other forces positioned in the city's outskirts to advance fast, according to the military expert Ali Naji Obeid.

My comment: Really quite biased by the voices of some strange “experts”.

(** B K)

Who are the UAE-backed forces fighting on the western front in Yemen?

Yet the varied composition of this coalition carries serious implications for the continuation of the war, and presents a serious challenge for its regional sponsors.

As of today, the various UAE-backed Yemeni forces fighting the Houthis seem to be referred to using the interchangeable umbrella names of “Joint Forces” and “National Resistance Forces” (NRF) – the latter of which was initially used to define the forces led by Brigadier General Tareq Saleh. These forces are made up of three major components: the Giants Brigade, the Guardians of the Republic, and the Tihama Resistance.

The Giants “Al Amaliqah” Brigade is the largest component of the NRF, gathering between 20,000 and 28,000 fighters according to ground sources. Its two most prominent commanders are Abdulrahman (Abu) Zarah Mahrami and Hamdi Shukri al Subaihi. Its fighters are predominantly southern Yemenis, mostly Salafis – including a number that were expelled from Dammaj in Sa’dah by the Houthis in January 2014 – and tribesmen from the region of Yafa’. The Giants Brigade has been enjoying particularly strong support from the UAE, benefiting from both money and military equipment since at least 2015. Yet the varied composition of this coalition carries serious implications for the continuation of the war, and presents a serious challenge for its regional sponsors.

Tareq Saleh’s forces are commonly referred to as the Guardians of the Republic. They are estimated at around 4,000 fighters, with an additional 5,000 believed to be trained in a UAE military base in the port of Assab, Eritrea. They were first reported to be active in April 2018, and are now based in a camp in Mukha city as well as in Khalid camp, where they are- present alongside Giants forces.

The Tihama Resistance is made up of an estimated 4,000 local fighters led by Ahmed al Kawkabani, a former marine from Hodeidah, and Abdulrahman Hajri. Sources on the ground indicate that, if the battle for the city goes forward, Tihami fighters will eventually take the lead because of the higher legitimacy they enjoy in the province.

These alliances of convenience between groups that ultimately have different ends but fight under a common banner today give ample space for future infighting.

These latest developments illustrate the complexity of holding the vast web of alliances the UAE has forged with extremely different groups together. For instance, while the Tihama Resistance is driven first and foremost by the desire to expel the Houthis from its Tihama coastal region, a number of Salafi fighters from the Giants Brigade are likely to be motivated by seeking revenge for their expulsion from Dammaj in 2014.

Lull in hostilities prompts residents to escape Hodeidah in their thousands, amid concern that fighting could soon resume

The besieged port city of Hodeidah in Yemen has become a “ghost town” as residents continue to flee in their thousands, using the current lull in hostilities to sell what remains of their belongings and escape amid fears UN-brokered negotiations will collapse.

Aid workers have told the Guardian that although things seem peaceful as diplomatic talks continue between warring parties, schools and businesses remain closed, and “anyone with any resources to get out is doing so now”.

“People are living in pathetic conditions not fit for humans and completely untenable for those who are most vulnerable,” said Isaac Ooko, area manager in Hodeidah for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

“What might appear to be a pause to the outside world doesn’t feel the same for those of us seeing what it means for people here.”

More than 35,000 families have been displaced from Hodeidah governorate since June, when the Saudi-led coalition began a military offensive to wrest control of the vital Red Sea port city from Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

UN-led negotiations, brokered by special envoy Martin Griffiths, have floated the idea of handing over Hodeidah – which handles about 70% of all Yemen’s imports – to UN supervision, in a bid to end current blockages on food, water and oil.

The hiatus has allowed much-needed supplies to come back into the famine-stricken country, where 22 million people – 80% of the entire population – need humanitarian aid.

But aid workers warn supplies are low, with current food stocks at only 40% and fuel at just 16% of July’s requirements.

"Conditions here are becoming worse. People aren't only arriving from Hodeidah now, but from areas in the north too. They come in the heat and dust with everything they can carry, but it usually isn't enough for them to survive beyond a few days. We are stretching the aid we have to reach as many people as possible but it will never compensate for what they lose by leaving their homes."

Quote from Isaac Ooko, NRC's Area Manager in Hodeidah:

"People are living in pathetic conditions, not fit for humans and completely untenable for those who are most vulnerable. I am incredibly proud of our teams for fronting up each day to make it possible for people to live with dignity in a situation that otherwise strips it from them. What might appear to be a pause to the outside world, doesn't feel the same for those of us seeing what it means for people here."

Latest updates:

The situation in Hodeidah City is calm, but tense, as diplomatic talks continue between warring parties, with heavy clashes ongoing in districts south of the city. Airstrikes, mortar fire, missiles and shelling continue to kill, injure and threaten the safety of civilian populations, particularly in At Tuhayat and Zabid districts.

NRC's staff inside Hodeidah city have described it as a "ghost town", where the bulk of shops and restaurants have been closed by proprietors fleeing the city. Through the course of the week, residents of Hodeidah city heard low -flying jets and heavy airstrikes on the outskirts of the city.

UNOCHA reports that 35,000 households have now been displaced since the Hodeidah offensive officially began on 13 June.

In Hajjah, where thousands of people have fled to safety, NRC's teams are seeing steady flows of people arrive from Hodeidah in anticipation of a resumption in fighting.

IOM, the UN Migration Agency staff in Yemen are delivering assistance to thousands of people displaced by heavy fighting around the strategic port city of Al Hudaydah this week.

“We and our partners are working in a difficult environment in hopes of alleviating some of the hardship people are experiencing by providing food, and non-food items (NFIs), shelter kits and good quality tents we’ve just received from the Department for International Development (UK),” said Stefano Pes, IOM Yemen’s Officer in Charge.

“The situation is very bad and we’re doing our best to provide them with temporary shelter and support for the time being.”

Civilian casualties and mass displacements continue to mount amidst intense fighting that began on 12 June. It has caused further damage to ravaged public services that has affected water supplies, forced shops to close resulting in shortages in essential commodities, complicated the delivery of humanitarian assistance and resulted in the closure of a temporary feeding centre in Zabid.

The fortunate few are traveling to the relative safely of Sana’a, Aden and Thamar but the majority of the population have already exhausted their reserves, forcing them to seek protection wherever they can.

Fifty IOM staff are working in various locations to assist migrants and an estimated 50,000 newly displaced Yemenis in Al Hudaydah. In coordination with its partners, IOM is providing shelter kits and NFIs to 1,400 households in Bait Al Fakeeh. In Hays and Al Khookh, internally displaced persons (IDPs) have received 165 food baskets and IOM’s Migrant Response Point (MRP) compound is today sheltering and providing services to 41 displaced Yemenis. The organization has also provided 7,830 meals to children in three Al Hudaydah schools. The IDPs have received 400 boxes of dates, nearly 1,600 people have received free consultations at IOM’s clinic and 40 pregnant women have received counselling.

A deal to stop a bloody fight over Hodeidah has no shot without the full backing of the Saudi-led coalition and the West.

The potential for a breakthrough in the Yemen war, now in its fourth year, may be close at hand. Last week, Martin Griffiths, the new UN envoy to Yemen, delivered a proposal that would avert a fight for Hodeidah, a city of as many as 600,000 people whose port provides an economic lifeline to millions of Yemenis. Now, it is up to the Houthis, the rebel group occupying Hodeidah, along with the internationally recognized government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Saudi-led coalition that backs it, to deliver their responses to Griffiths.

If any one of these parties rejects Griffiths’s plan—or if Western powers fail to exert enough pressure on their Gulf allies to accept it—they would be complicit in the ensuing tragedy and the perpetuation of a war that has precipitated the world’s costliest humanitarian crisis. With UAE-backed forces on the outskirts of Hodeidah and the Houthis digging in for what promises to be a long, nasty fight, these answers could not come soon enough.

While Griffiths’s plan has not yet been made public, a broad outline has leaked. The details include a phased Houthi withdrawal from Hodeidah’s port and city, along with two other nearby ports. The UN would help Yemeni staff run the port facility, and would also assist local government and police in managing the city. Because these local personnel have remained largely neutral during the war in Yemen, they ought to be acceptable to all sides. In return, UAE-backed forces would gradually pull back from the city. The deal would be tied to a broader national ceasefire, and a return to peace talks after a two-year hiatus.

So far, the parties have hedged. The Houthis have demonstrated some flexibility. They have agreed to hand over the port even as they quibble over control of the city. For its part, the Hadi government has been somewhat positive about the UN proposal—albeit, chiefly because it thinks the Houthis will reject it, not because it feels a need to broker a settlement with them.

The coalition has also suggested that even if Griffiths’s ideas were endorsed by all, the UN lacks the capacity to carry them out. Yet surely this ought not stand in the way of an agreement that could spare thousands of lives. There is a straightforward remedy: If the UN needs support, it stands to reason that UN member states should provide it.

At times, the UAE and Saudi Arabia behave as if they should be rewarded with a better deal simply for restraining themselves from carrying out their assault. But avoiding a battle for the port is not doing the world a favor—it’s living up to a moral and political obligation, and giving themselves a face-saving way to achieve their goals without waging a fight they may not even win.

Griffiths needs help to keep this peace deal on track. He needs much more than the mostly empty, cautious rhetorical backing he’s received from Western capitals and UN Security Council members to date.

But responsibility for bringing about a negotiated end to the war lies chiefly with the United States, France, and Britain. All have concrete leverage over the coalition – by Robert Malley and Peter Salisbury

HB: My principal concern is that it is essentially a first step to Saudi & UAE imposing a complete economic siege on the Yemeni highlands i.e. starve the Houthi-run areas of Yemen. It won't work, for other reasons, but Saudi & UAE likely see this as their final war card.

PS: I absolutely share your concerns that Hodeidah could be cut off, but surely a nasty and long battle for the port / city will be much much worse than a compromise deal that effectively makes them a neutral zone?

PS: Also much harder to ignore economic tactics when UN is physically inside the port monitoring what is happening on a day-to-day basis. An imperfect solution absolutely, but the least bad option right now

HB: Every shipment to Hodeidah is already inspected by the UNVIM in Djibouti. No other ships are allowed into the port. So what is the point of the UN running Hodeidah? The stated aim of missile supply interdictions? Pointless, as it is based on faulty beliefs.

HB: My 5 cents: For the Houthis to cede Hodeidah port & city control to the UN (ajnabiya, ya Peter), and withdraw its forces, is to surrender capital Sanaa itself. Conversely, to fight for Hodeidah port, no matter how bloody it turns out, seems the logical Houthi choice. No good.

Comment by Living on the Edge: So far all the previous "opportunities for peace" coming from the Saudis were along the lines of: surrender, disarm completely or the rain of bombs will continue. Hodeidah was along the lines of, surrender the port of the north half of the country, or we will invade.

Show us one proposal in good faith made by Hadi and the Saudis that hasn't been a blackmail for the blood of millions of innocents. Hadi did not honor his agreement to step down from power when the time came! But if you knew that much of politics, chances are that you have understood the unnecessary horror the Saudis have waged in Yemen for four years with no accountability from humanity.

UN agency warns conditions around Yemen’s key port city of Hudaydah still ‘very bad’, as staff rush to deliver aid

United Nations migration agency staff in Yemen say the key port city of Hudaydah remains “a difficult environment” for the delivery of aid to thousands of people displaced by heavy fighting this week.

“The situation is very bad and we’re doing our best to provide them with temporary shelter and support for the time being,” said Stefano Pes, IOM Yemen’s Officer in Charge, noting that agency staff and partners are working in a difficult environment to deliver food, and non-food items, shelter kits and good quality tents.

Hudaydah – the primary gateway for food and humanitarian aid for a population on the verge of starvation – has been racked by fighting between Houthi rebels, who control the port, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.

Civilian casualties and mass displacements continue to mount amidst intense fighting that began on 12 June.

It has caused further damage to public services which are stretched to the limit, affecting water supplies, forcing shops to close and resulting in shortages in essential commodities. This has complicated the delivery of humanitarian assistance and resulted in the closure of a temporary feeding centre in Zabid.

The fortunate few who are able to leave, are traveling to the relative safely of Sana’a, Aden and Thamar but the majority of the population have already exhausted their reserves, forcing them to seek protection wherever they can, said the agency.

About 50 IOM staff are working in various locations to assist migrants and an estimated 50,000 newly displaced Yemenis in Hudaydah. IOM has also provided 7,830 meals to children in three Hudaydah schools.

Comment: Breaking: Water is still wet. The Saudi aggression in Yemen has intentionally engineered these apocalyptic conditions. Who else throttled the flow of food and supplies in the first place? (Hint: not Yemen). Ending the war, withdrawing their war machine would be the only way to truly restore stability and rebuild.

But we applaud their factual addendum on the democratic farce that is Hadi's "legitimate" government:

"The crisis in Yemen has its genesis in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, which swept across the country amid ongoing rebel insurgency. Although anti-Government protests led to the ouster of the then President, the transfer of power to Mr. Hadi, his deputy, led to further instability and conflict."

Port of Hodeida Remains Lifeline for Millions of Yemenis on Brink of Famine

UN agencies are extremely worried that the upsurge in fighting in Yemen's Hodeida Governorate could result in the closure of the port. This, they warn would be catastrophic for millions of starving people.

More than three years of war has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, with more than eight million extremely hungry people totally dependent on international aid for their survival. Most of the food and other essential humanitarian aid arrives in Yemen through the Port of Hodeida. For now, the port is open. But, World Food Program spokeswoman, Bettina Luescher tells VOA heavy fighting around this strategic city is putting the delivery of crucial aid at risk.

"We are continuing to provide emergency rations to the people fleeing the violence and we are making sure that wheat and other food stocks are available." Luescher said. "We are concerned that the upsurge in the fighting in Hodeida could lead to 1.1 million people being either displaced or trapped within Hodeida. That is the concern that we have."

Comment: Making #Hodeidah the primary military target is perfectly in line with the Saudi Coalition's INTENTIONAL campaign of creating the worst famine and MAN-MADE mass-starvation event in modern history. It is a larger scale repetition of the same evil that has bombed farms, fishermen, markets, and water systems.

MILITARY offensive launched by Saudi-backed forces in western Yemen has ended in disaster as Houthi forces scored a decisive victory destroying vehicles and seizing weapons as troops fled.

The offensive was part of an operation targeting coastal areas held by Houthi forces as coalition forces try to take back control of Yemen and reinstate the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, which has been in exile since it was overthrown by Houthis in 2015.

Thursday’s battle saw a defeat for the Southern Resistance Army at the hands of the Houthis in the al-Faza area of Tahtiyah with a number of troops killed.

Comment: This is the view of a left wing newspaper from UK. I personally haven't been posting these sorts of stories - there are several every day from Sharq Al Aswat (KSA) and Saba.net

(Houthis). It's always difficult to tell which stories are true and which aren't - both sides produce an awful lot of propaganda. I gather that at the moment UAE has stopped moving forward from Hodeida airport which it captured 10 days or more ago possibly because of UN intervention. So the port is still operating although nowhere near full capacity

Following constant monitoring, the Joint Resistance Forces captured 35 #Houthi militia fighters, who were hiding in al-Tuhaita district. This comes as the Forces also foiled infiltration attempt by the militia in al-Jaah, south of #Hodeidah.

Film by Ruptly: Yemen: Saudi-backed forces make gains south of Hodaidah

Footage filmed in Al Tuhayta on Thursday shows the Yemeni National Army (YNA), backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, in the outskirts and within the city. A convoy of military vehicles was seen thundering along desert roads, while trucks carrying militants made their way through residential areas. According to reports, the YNA is making advances in several strategic areas in the battle for the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

They arm our killers, support their war and blockade on our country, take group pictures laughing and shaking hands and then ask their spokespersons and media to say "we care about Yemenis and are working on peaceful solution to end their suffering and war"! And they mean it!

Four years of fear. Four years of crying. Four years of terrifying our soul. Four years of no hope. Four years of hunger. Four years of bombing. Four years of losing everything even your beloved country. Four years of screaming. Four years of not thinking in the future. #Yemen

Propaganda, Misinformation, Manipulation are the main pillars when it comes to reporting on #Yemen Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been bribing, blocking, stopping newsrooms. And targeting Yemeni journalists from Press TV Iran

It is hard to imagine a different fate for Yemen than that of Somalia – numerous balkanized political entities cursed with perpetual distrust and hostility.

Two-Sides of the Same

As someone whose ancestral background is deeply rooted in both Somalia and Yemen and with a keen interest in post-colonial political evolution in both societies, I can attest to the profound cultural similarities between these two countries and their peoples.

Both countries have never been left on their own in modern history. Both societies are dominated by a primitive tribal system that preserves history through oral traditions that commonly cling on to toxic narratives against other tribes. Both tend to zealously defend tribal honor or vanity even if that means sacrificing their countries’ interests. Both have religious extremist groups.

Criteria for Junglification

The Saudi-led coalition has taken a page out of the playbook used in the catastrophically failed Iraq war. The strategy was simple: invade under the altruistic pretext of coming to save Yemen. Inflict awe-striking destruction. Destroy historical sites, records, and rituals that could reinvigorate collective memory and collective identity – a sense of nationhood.

Pick a side on a sectarian divide knowing full well that in tribal societies there is nothing wholly monolithic. Support various zero-sum tactics in the hope that they will play right into the Saudi hegemonic interest in the region. Don’t worry about an exit strategy. Count on installed puppets and count on the support of the exploitable sectarian masses and their raging appetite for ethnic-cleansing.

Battle of Hodeidah

The Hodeidah battle is broadly considered as the most significant since the fall of Sana in September 2014. For the Houthis, it is a “do or die” struggle. Though the coalition claims that the Houthis receive their weapons through Hodeidah, it has been the most important port where 70 percent of Yemen’s food and other essential supplies come through.

At the deadly poker table, many continue to make their emotionless moves. There are those who are interested in sectarian supremacy, those interested in regional hegemony, those interested in lucrative mercenary projects, those interested in proxy political legitimacy, and those with the grand strategy to secure geopolitical dominance.

The likely outcome for Yemen is the Somali model – tribal fiefdoms exposed for perpetual exploitation.

So, is there an alternative?

The only means to change this imminent trajectory is to accomplish what Somalia has been stuttering and stumbling with – and at times faking it – for decades: a genuine reconciliation followed by a rigorous campaign to sacrifice claims of exclusive tribal rights for inclusive equal rights for all Yemeni citizens. This requires empowering the educated younger generation who by and large transcend the self-destructive clannish worldview of the traditionalist elders – by Abukar Arman

Comment: Do not be misguided by the title: the writer's 'ancestral background is deeply rooted in both Somalia and Yemen' and he has a keen interest in post-colonial political evolution in both societies'. Yet, we wonder if the parallelism is not too forced

["I do not think Iran is a major player in this war, that's what Saudi Arabia wants to believe to cover its real intention, which is to loosen #Yemen and seize part of its territories.' Gilles Gauthier, connoisseur of the Arab world and former France Ambassador to Yemen (2006-09). Gauthier has just published "Between two shores, 50 years of passion for the Arab world" in which he remembers his last years in the region and in which he dedicates a large space to Yemen]

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

(* B H K)

Children conscripted by Houthis subject to sexual abuse

Rehabilitated children released from King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre programme

Children conscripted to fight for Houthi rebels in Yemen have been subjected to sexual abuse and indoctrinated to believe that it was their Islamic duty to fight the pro-government forces, according to a Saudi aid organistaion.

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) opened a rehabilitation centre for former child soldiers in Marib province earlier this year, in co-operation with a local partner, Wethaq Civic Foundation, a children rehabilitation project.

So far 161 children have successfully completed the programme, says Najeeb Al Sadi, director of the centre in Marib province, adding that the project aims to eventually reach more than 2,000 children, most of whom come from Marib, Al Jawf, Taiz, Sanaa, Amran and Hodeidah.

“About 16 per cent of these children that have come to the facility in Marib have said they were exposed to sexual assault by Houthi officials along the fronts or other older fighters,” Mr Al Sadi said.

My comment: Sexual assault against children when exposed to total subjection to adults especially in extreme situations like war is rather probable. – Nevertheless, the purpose of this article is propaganda. Keep in mind that the Houthi media just objected to UAE soldiers and mercenaries raping children and women (below cp6; YPR 435, cp6).

(B H)

This ex Houthi leader really hates the Houthis. Ali Al Bukhaiti : UN agencies & aid INGOs working in #Yemen Houthi areas are under full Houthi control, senior management & staff are all Houthis and directly support the Houthi war

Again and again, through its various media characters, Saudi Arabia threatens the UN & aid INGOs working in Yemen. Just stop. It does not help Yemenis at all. These are the only orgs who are helping the poor here, and these needy folks are not Houthis.

WHO: People who need healthcare services in Yemen is increasing dramatically

The number of people who need healthcare services in Yemen is increasing dramatically over the past 3 years, the World Health Organization has said. In a tweet, the WHO's account posted: " The number of people who need healthcare services in Yemen is increasing dramatically over the past 3 years. Now, more than 50% of Yemen’s population are in need for health services."

WHO: #Yemen continues facing the double burden of high acute and chronic #malnutrition, as the conflict further aggravates the situation. Nearly 400,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, requiring immediate life-saving treatment.

With generous fund from the @WorldBank and @theOFDA, WHO is fully supporting 43 therapeutic feeding centres in #Yemen to provide life-saving treatment for severely malnourished children with medical complications. In 2018, over 3,960 children received treatment in these centres.

More Than 50,000 Thousands Yemeni Babies Have Lost Their Lives in 2017 (Report)

As the Associated Press (AP) reported last May, at least 3 million Yemeni women and children are “acutely malnourished; another 400,000 children are fighting for their lives.” Further:

“Nearly a third of Yemen’s population — 8.4 million of its 29 million people — rely completely on food aid or else they would starve. That number grew by a quarter over the past year…Aid agencies warn that parts of Yemen could soon start to see widespread death from famine. More and more people are reliant on aid that is already failing to reach people. …It is unknown how many have died, since authorities are not able to track cases. Save the Children late last year estimated that 50,000 children may have died in 2017 of extreme hunger or disease (emphasis added), given that up to 30 percent of children with untreated cases of severe acute malnutrition die.”

Feature: Yemen's children pay high price for Saudi military aggression

On the sounds of violent airstrikes in the northern outskirts of the capital Sanaa earlier this year, the wife of Faisal Ahmed gave birth to son. "Trembling with fear from the aerial bombardment striking near our home, she was screaming in fear and pain… and suddenly she gave birth," said Ahmed. Ahmed, the father of nine children, had lost his job due to the war. He has since no constant income. He said his wife was able to breastfeed her newborn son for about 20 days before her milk stopped, because of her malnutrition. No electricity, no cooking gas, no water and no health access since the war erupted, the family has since relied on wood to cook food for, and the father couldn't afford to buy his new son milk from the market. The Yemeni children have been paying the highest price since Saudi-led aggression coalition launched a war on Yemen in March 2015. The United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF has recorded the deaths of 900 children in 2007 alone, with more than 1,300 wounded – at the average of six killed or injured each day. They have been killed or maimed across the country and are no longer safe anywhere in Yemen. Even playing or sleeping has become dangerous. Meanwhile, nearly 320,000 children are at risk of life-threatening malnutrition in the country since the war began, according to UNICEF.

With support from the @WorldBank, #Kuwait and @UNCERF, seven WHO-hartered aircrafts have landed in Sana’a Airport this week carrying more than 168 tons of life-saving medicines and medical supplies as health needs in #Yemen grow at alarming pace.

The shipments contain interagency emergency health kits, surgical kits, #cholera kits, intravenous (IV) fluids and various types of antibiotics which are much-needed by health facilities across the country

MONA: Mona is currently preparing to distribute a new batch of food aid to displaced families from the province of Hodeidah to the capital Sanaa after distributing food and shelter aid to more than 200 displaced families last week. (photos9

Today, this land is no longer the same to the youngsters like us who see no future to look forward to. Getting education has become a dream to wish upon as 12 universities have been completely destroyed, 25 others partially destroyed and hundreds of university lecturers just fled the country. This war has deprived 300,000 university students of their education most of them are finding odd jobs and some of them have even committed suicides.

All of a sudden we found ourselves struggling to fulfil our basic needs such as getting food, medicine, clean water, electricity, fuel and shelter but it didn’t end there.

This situation kept getting worse and worse. People and children, if the airstrikes didn’t kill them the hunger did. We couldn’t just sit and watch number of initiatives being taken to help in bringing a slight change or should I say, to bring a peek of hope for survival.

Many of us didn’t need to be part of an agency or affiliates to do something about it we just couldn’t stand still and that’s how volunteering work started to bloom in Sana’a and other cities running various campaigns.

Now there are campaigns of distributing food kits that contain (wheat, oil, sugar and rice) basic necessities, placing fridges by the walkways where clean food can be donated and taken. The youth also worked on convincing shopkeepers, bread bakeries and restaurants to give free food for the ones who couldn’t afford it. Another campaign was run to request house owners to lease houses to families who are living on rent and have nowhere to go to stay without paying any leasing charges.

Besides food people are living in the absence of light and electricity, another campaign worked hard on collecting money and distributing solar power panels to families that cannot afford it. Sadly we have a slim role to end this conflict we couldn’t light up our present and God knows about the future but we did light up our houses and others for now.

We live now as if there is no escape of the pain and struggle in this land. Many of us have left the country and I wonder how long it will take until everyone does!

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

(B H)

Siehe / Look at cp1b2

(* A H)

Morocco.. The largest human rights association demanding the entry of 50 Yemenis into Melilla

The Moroccan association for Human Rights (the largest Law association in the Kingdom) Saturday evening asked the authorities in Morocco to intervene to enable some 50 Yemeni refugees to enter the city of Melilla under Spanish control.

This was in a letter sent by the association to the Governor of AL Nadhoor, northeast of the country, Ali Khalil, who explained that "they have been in the city of AL Nadhoor since last Ramadan and have indicated that they want to move to Melilla to seek international protection and apply for asylum."

Melilla is controlled by the Spanish authorities, and Morocco is demanding that it be retrieved.

It stressed the need for urgent intervention, in order to allow them access to the asylum office opened for this purpose at Melilla, and stated that the Moroccan authorities had denied their access to the office, despite their repeated attempts.

The Assembly considered this to be "a breach of Morocco's obligations under international conventions, particularly Geneva 1952 and its 1966 protocol".

Omar al-Naji, head of the Nadhoor association branch, said, "There are children and women among the refugees, including a blind child, who is an 11-year-old girl with her father, and that the association sent another letter concerning the child only, to the provincial security official."

"We are trying to enable the girl child to join her mother, who has been able to enter Melilla and apply for asylum there," Anadolu agency quoted the report as saying.

These Yemenis arrived in Morocco via air and land flights across the border between Morocco and Algeria and are living in difficult conditions, al-Naji said.

During the period under review, 825 Somali refugees returned from Kenya (655), Yemen (141), Tunisia (28) and Ukraine (one). Since the beginning of the voluntary return programme, on 8 December 2014, 83,669 Somalis have repatriated to Somalia.

As of 30 June 2018, UNHCR also recorded 35,622 Somalis who returned from Yemen spontaneously, out of whom 186 returned in June (1,446 in 2018).

In the first half of 2018, 6,932 Somali refugees have repatriated, representing eight per cent of the total refugees who have repatriated. The majority returned from Kenya (79 per cent), followed by Yemen (17 per cent), Libya (three per cent) and some from other countries of asylum

Displaced households from Al Hudaydah Governorate continue to be assisted through the rapid response mechanism.

Sana’a

As of 17 July, 1,014 displaced households have been assisted through the rapid response mechanism (RRM). The figure includes 271 displaced households currently living in six public schools in Sana’a City. As schools are due to reopen in few weeks, discussions and assessments are underway to move the IDPs to the Olympic Centre dormitory in the Capital.

Ibb

As of 17 July, some 4,000 displaced households from Al Hudaydah Governorate have been verified and 1,367 have received assistance. During the reporting period, WHO dispatched medical supplies to Taizz City to support Al-Thawrah and Al Jumhori hospitals in providing 5,000 renal dialysis sessions.

Aden

As of 17 July, 2,360 displaced households from Al Hudaydah Governorate have been verified and some 2,075 have been assisted. Displaced households located in areas between Lahj and Taizz governorates have been difficult to reach due to the proximity to an active front line.

The journalist “Al Absi” family accuses Houthis of obliterating and burying his assassination case

A statement by the family of journalist Mohammed al-Absi on Saturday accused the authorities of the al-Houthi group in the capital, Sana'a, of seeking to obliterate and bury the evidence and facts in the murder of the Absi.

Absi was assassinated in December 2016, according to a statement issued by the Al-Absi family and press activists after a sample of his body was presented to a forensic physician.

"The Criminal Investigation Department in Sana'a is holding in its drawers the dossier of the martyred journalist Mohammed Abdo al-Absi and with an astonishing insistence on burying the case and obliterating its evidence and its reality, which is a strange course and a dubious and unnatural approach," the statement said.

This is being done "with the clear complicity of the criminal investigation prosecution, where the case has not been referred to the prosecution and no serious action has been taken in investigating, summoning and following up on the perpetrators and persons named in the investigative records".

He noted that the incomplete records, papers and reports contained in the complaint note to the Attorney-General and in the statement of the defense and the special prosecution had not been met by the Criminal investigation prosecutor on the case.

The #Houthis have killed Sheikh Mohammed Sabtan, along with four other citizens and a #child, as they also bombed the house of Sheikh Sabtan, located in the Qaflat Ather district in the province of Amran. Sabtan was a #GPC leading figure.

Hamdan tribes of #Sanaa province announced on Saturday the general mobilization to face the aggression, in response to the appeal of #Jawf and #Arhab tribes. In a tribal meeting, sheikhs and members of Hamdan tribes confirmed their response to the call of Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi to provide the fronts with more fighters and gear until achieving the victory.

President Al-Mashat hands French ambassador letter to President Macron

In the meeting, the president confirmed the political council's support for all peace efforts and its keenness to spare Yemenis' blood. Al-Mashat pointed out that the Saudi-led coalition states are continuing in their aggression and military escalation, rejecting all initiatives and calls for peace and recent international movements led by the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths. The president expressed hope for reopening the Embassy of the Republic of France in Sanaa to facilitate the process of communication and promote bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in economic aspects.

Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf on Saturday expressed thanks to the United Nations for its good efforts to assist Yemen in facing the ordeal caused by the aggression since March 26, 2015. The minister discussed, in his meeting with the UN Resident Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, the work of the UN organizations operating in Yemen

President of the Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, on Saturday expressed his hope that Chine would play an important political role in supporting peace efforts in Yemen. This came in the president's letter he sent to Chinese President Xi Jinpin

SAM: Houthis Refusal to Allow a Final Tribute to Detainee’s Deceased Mother is Inhuman, All HRDs Must Be Released

SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties denounced in a press release today, refusal of Houthis-run Political Security prison administration, to allow inmate Ali Ghaleb Al-Anesi bidding a final tribute to his deceased mother, who died following a heart stroke that she sustained on Thursday 5 July 2018. SAM called for an immediate stop of Houthis militia violations against detainees and abductees and shall pay attention to humanitarian consideration.

cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government

Siehe / Look at cp1

(* B P T)

Killing 5 and surviving 2 in one month.. Who stops the madness of the murders in Aden? Statistics

In the light of government inaction, which has been branded by local security agencies, the systematic killing machine continues to harvest innocent lives in the city of Aden, the interim capital of the south of the country, three years after its liberation from the al-Houthi militants.

Last week, the city's residents timidly celebrated the third anniversary of the city's liberation, "Today the city is living in a semblance of the UAE occupation, Abu Dhabi is the actual ruler, and no voice louder than" according to one of the residents.

It adds to the Al-Masdar online that the population is disappointed, especially because of the collapse of the security situation in the country's presumed capital and the daily assassinations of public figures and ordinary citizens.

Although President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Yemeni government reside in the city, the security situation collapsed for the worse and the assassinations escalated.

In just three weeks, five people were assassinated, and two others survived, while unofficial figures refer to some 400 operations targeting military personnel and social and religious figures over the past two years.

In the assassinations, the focus is on public opinion leaders in the city, especially the preachers and imams of mosques based on the Salafi stream and the Yemeni rally for reform”Islah”, where some 30 people have been killed in the past few months.

Endowments ministry describes the assassinations in Aden of terrorism which aims to keep the city empty of the median

The Ministry of Endowments in the Yemeni government said Sunday that the incidents of repeated assassinations in the southern city of Aden, the interim capital of the country, which targeted scientists and preachers, were heinous terrorist attacks.

According to a statement by the Ministry, those actions were designed to keep the city of Aden dark and empty from the presence of scholars, preachers and reformers, who are known for their moderation.

"To free the atmosphere of these extremist criminal gangs continues to tamper with the security and safety of both the homeland and the citizens," he said.

The Supreme Court of Aden denies the release of 380 prisoners accused of terrorism

The Office of the President of the Supreme Court, Judge Hamoud al-Hettar, denied the tweets and news of his Twitter story about the release of 380 prisoners accused of terrorism.

He said in a press release issued on Saturday: It's forged and its pure slander. "

Added: " The supervision of prisons and the release of prisoners who have been imprisoned without legal justification or where there is insufficient evidence to convict them or the terms of their incarceration are the duty of the Public Prosecutor's office. "

The office denied that the Supreme Court had received appeals against sentences in terrorism cases or issued an order and decision to release any of the defendants in terrorist cases.

Lahj governor, Sheikh Ahmed Hamoud Jerib, accused the United Arab Emirates of trafficking in human beings in the southern provinces, exploiting the living and economic conditions of Yemeni people of the south and pulling them in the midst of futile wars.

Jerib stressed that the UAE's practice of paying money for fighting is one of the forms of trafficking in human beings and constitutes a crime punishable under international law. He pointed out that thousands of the southerners have been forced by difficult living conditions to join Emirates camps to improve their living conditions.

He pointed out that Abu Dhabi began to implement this conspiracy two years ago, which aims to drain the living youth forces in the south, in preparation for the implementation of its colonial plan in the south of the country.

He traveled within a government delegation but raised the demands of the "Southern transition". Al Naqeeb: The south is languishing under the northern occupation.

Despite his participation in a government parliamentary delegation to the 5th IPU Conference for the promotion of transparency and anti-corruption held in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, deputy Aydaroos al-naqeeb spoke on behalf of the so-called "Southern Transitional Council".

Six al-Qaeda operatives were killed in a military operation by al-Shabwani elite in Shabwah

Six al-Qaeda operatives were killed by al- Shabwani elite forces fighting between the two sides on Friday evening in the “Al Saeed” Directorate of the southeastern province of Shabwah, the pro-Emirates Elite said.

In a statement, the Al- Shabwani elite said it had launched a military operation on a training site for al-Qaeda in the Wadi Muthib , Al Saeed district, following a thorough intelligence operation.

According to the statement, three soldiers of the military forces were injured with various injuries in the operation described as "successful and productive".

Deputy chief of #Aden police was wounded when a bomb was thrown at him while on duty on Saturday, hours after a cleric was assassinated. The weird thing: no arrests have been made in connection with slayings that have rocked the city since 2015.

Yemeni officials say unidentified armed men have killed a Muslim preacher in the southern city of Aden, base of Yemen's internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

They said on Sunday that the slain Mohammed Ragheb was known to be close to the Islah party, a local affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood group that is allied with Yemen's self-exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Assassination of imam and preacher of a mosque in Aden by Unknown gunmen

On Saturday evening, unknown gunmen assassinated Imam and preacher of a mosque in the southern city of Aden.

A local source and witnesses for the "Almasdar online" said that gunmen aboard a pickup truck "Helux" car opened fire at Sheikh "Mohammed Ragheb Bazarh", Imam and preacher of Abdullah Azzam Mosque in Al Muaalla City, Aden Governorate.

A girl aged six years was attacked in the city of Mukalla in Hadramout province for a brutal rape, which drove her into a critical health condition.

A local source in the city of Mukalla said that a young man raped a 6-year-old girl brutally, adding that the young man managed to escape to an unknown destination after committing the terrible moral crime against the child.

The source pointed out that this terrible incident aroused great anger among the people of the city of Mukalla, who affirmed that such nightmares have become everyone’s fear when their little girls are on the streets.

It is noteworthy that the phenomenon of rape has spread very recently in the areas controlled by the forces of the Saudi-led coalition amid a chaos of security, which led many families to conceal these crimes considering them dishonorable.

It is noteworthy that reports on newspapers and media recorded 74 crimes of rape against children, boys and girls, in a number of eastern and southern provinces occupied during the first half of this year.

On the other hand, a second child has fallen as a victim of sexual harassment in a matter of hours in Lahj.

A medical report revealed that a child under the age of eight was subjected to sexual harassment in a rural area in Tabn district, Lahj Province.

The forensic report on “Aden Time” said that the child (W, M, P) had been sexually assaulted. The report also pointed out that in the Republic Hospital in the capital Aden, traces of superficial red-colored were seen at the entrance to the anus.

The medical opinion of the report shows that the child (W, M, P) was subjected to sexual harassment through his anus.

A region in the district of Tabn in Lahj Province witnessed yet another rape crime against a child aged less than 9 years old.

The crime of rape and sexual harassment of children has provoked widespread discontent among the population, calling for a severe punishment of the perpetrators, protection and rehabilitation of the victims of rape and sexual harassment, as well as spread awareness and advocacy campaigns to protect and promote public morality.

My comment: Horrible. But according to the text, it’s not the militia raping the children.

(A T)

Elite Yemeni forces hit AQAP fighters near Shabwa

Numerous operations are being carried out against militants from ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular

Six members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula were killed on Friday in a fierce battle with the elite Yemeni government forces backed by the UAE in the country’s southeast.

“The fighting flared up between our forces and a cell affiliated with Al Qaeda in Wadi Sur in the mountainous chain which stretches between Al-Musainya'a area and the district of Markha to the north of Shabwa,” Col Mohammed Salem Al-Bowhar, the commander of the elite forces in Shabwa, told The National in a phone call Saturday. “The elite forces of Shabwa were able to liberate more than three sites occupied by members of Al Qaeda", the colonel said.

Six militants were killed and many others injured, the officer said, however, the cell had the time to withdraw its injuries as the mountainous nature of the area made it very difficult for the UAE backed forces to encircle the gunmen.

On Yemen’s eastern-most margins in the vast al-Mahra governorate (hereafter referred to as Mahra), despite all the challenges, wecontinue to see a peaceful, self-organization model emerging. Seizing the initiative against Yemen’s backdrop of upheaval, it is seeking to secure and improve the future of its communities.

In today’s globally connected society, Mahraprovides a striking and unusual example of grass-roots activism because internet penetration is low.

This chapter explores how some Mahris are nevertheless actively organizing themselves across tribal boundaries to take control of their future. The future they envisage, however, is based on an under-standing of Yemen that contrasts starkly with the various scenarios currently being touted by Yemen’s powerbrokers and the international community as a solution to end the ongoing war. In Mahra, only 9 percent of the population wants to be part of a uniﬁed Yemen and still fewer (only 6 per cent) support a federal solution. Perhaps evenmore surprising is that only 13 per cent would want to be part of a separate South Yemen. Given the choice, 72 per cent would favour an independent Mahri state. Why is this? And how are ordinary Mahris trying to achieve at least a modest level of control over their situation?

This chapter begins with a short recent history of the Mahra region in order to locate today’s self-organization model in its broader historical and socio-political contexts. Next, it explains the mechanism used to guide the model: a comprehensive socio-political survey undertaken in December 2012 to January 2013 by this author at the request of a local non-governmental organization, the Mahra Youth Unity Association. Third, it investigates the root causes of today’s community mobilization in Mahra, then assesses whether or not internationally-supported strategies and agreements introduced after the 2011 revolution have any resonance in Mahra. Finally, it explains and analyses Mahra’s self-organization model and its suitability to acounter-terrorism agenda. By way of conclusion, the chapter discusses the implications offered by Mahra’s experience, both its successes and failures, for the broader region and for our theoretical understanding of traditional Muslim societies in transition. The research in this chapter is heavily based on primary ﬁeldwork, including a survey, meetings and interviews conducted by this author in Yemen in 2012–15 - by Elisabeth Kendall

My comment: Keep in mind the permanent rebellion of Maherahis against the Saudi and UAE forces occupying the province.

(B P)

Gerald Firestein, Former American Ambassador, Accuses General Al-Ahmar with Hindering Military Salaries through Bank Services

Gerald Firestein, Former American Ambassador, accuses General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar with hindering payment of military salaries through bank services in Yemen. In a tweet on his official account on tweeter, Firestein said: “We tried to provide banking services through mobile apps in 2012 to guarantee that military personnel have their salaries and to stop robberies done by superior officers but Ali Mohsen and others hindered all this”. It is noteworthy that millions of Yemeni Riyals go monthly to the pockets of superior officers in Yemeni army instead of being payed to their real beneficiaries.

My comment: The Hadi government’s vice president Ali Mohsen is seen as greatest foe by Southern separatists.

(A P)

Assassinations Return to Aden As Al-Muiasery and Leaders of Yemeni Reform Party Insist on Releasing a Number of Terrorists and Dangerous Criminals

Terrorist explosions and daily assassinations returned to Aden streets as legitimacy government, represented in Eng. Ahmed Al-Muisaery, minister of internal affairs, and a number of reform party leaders to release tens of prisoners and criminals who are major suspects in assassination and terrorist acts. Those leaders used all their financial and media capacities to escalate public pressure towards releasing a large number of terrorists who were detained in corrective facilities of Aden Security Department. Those leaders also are involved in urging their terrorist arms in some countries like Turkey and Qatar to file falsified reports about secret prisons run by the Arab Coalition where, according to their false information, human rights and international laws are violated. As tens of suspects in a number of crimes and terrorist acts were released, they returned to their vicious hobby of killing and exploding to disturb public security.

Transitional Political Council for the South (STC) President Aydarus al Zubaidi reiterated the STC’s goal to establish a sovereign southern state based on the pre-1990 borders of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen in a July 19 interview with Sputnik. Zubaidi also stated that the state would use a pluralist federal system. He also accused the Hadi government of corruption and blamed it for the humanitarian crisis in southern Yemen.[2]

Yemen accuses a UN official of bringing European politicians into the capital Sanaa on his plane

The Yemeni government has accused a UN official of bringing European and British politicians into the Yemeni capital Sanaa on his plane.

Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani said that there had been much manipulation, including that of the former Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (Humanitarian Coordinator), using United Nations aviation to introduce some politicians.

"The UN official has included politicians including members of the British and European parliaments," the report quoted him as reporting the Middle East newspaper.

He pointed out that the Government had halted all such manipulation and activity outside even international law.

My comment: The Hadi government claims that they must control Sanaa airport which lies in Houthi-controlled territory – there would be no reason at all for this apart from the Hadi government’s claim of controlling the whole country. – Of course, they do not want any contacts of these European politicins to the Houthis at Sanaa.

(A E P)

Agreement to establish a new power plant in Aden and Hadi that recognizes the government's resort to prosthetic solutions

A memorandum of understanding was signed on Friday in the interim capital of Aden for the establishment of the 264 mega-watt Aden power plant and the 100-mega-MHADHMAWT coast power.

The agreement was signed by Petrommasila, represented by its executive director, Eng. Mohammad bin Sumait, and the commercial Director general for Energy and gas systems in the Middle East and North Africa, GE Gajan Kakar, of the US General Electric Company.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, while attending the signing, acknowledged the previous electricity problem, which said that what the government was doing, "prosthetic solutions through the purchased energy is expensive and costly to the state's limited resources and is constantly suffering." President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, while attending the signing, acknowledged the previous electricity problem, which said that what the government was doing, "prosthetic solutions through the purchased energy is expensive and costly to the state's limited resources and is constantly suffering."

#South_Yemen: tribes with support from UAE backed southern transitional council seeking to overthrow internationally recognized Govt of President Hadi. Had told BBC he has no regrets abt requisting help form Saudi-UAE coalition; he means he doesn't give a shit abt famine & ppl!

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

Yemen's government says the Iran-aligned Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, should release all detainees and captives held in their prisons ahead of peace talks.

The official news agency SABA quoted the government Sunday as saying that the Houthis should also hand over their arms and withdraw from all rebel-held areas including the capital, Sanaa, which they seized in September 2014.

The agency says Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid bin Daghr made the remarks in a meeting with the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths

My comment: More preconditions by the Hadi government. He could have proposed an exchange of prisoners – but the Hadi government by all it does wants to make sure its superiority. More to be found at cp15 Propaganda.

(A P)

Griffiths in Washington to Promote Yemeni Settlement Plan

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths is in Washington seeking solutions and international support for his mission to end the Yemeni crisis and implement UN Resolution 2216.

My comment: By Saudi newsite. In case the mission really would be to “implement UN Resolution 2216” Griffith would fail. This resolution was dictated by Saudi Arabia and pushed by the US, it’s highly biased and has been an obstacle to peace since more than 3 years now.

(* A P)

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths to discuss negotiations over al Hudaydah port on July 19. Emirati Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem al Hashimy also met with Griffiths and reiterated the Saudi-led coalition’s demand for an unconditional al Houthi withdrawal from al Hudaydah city. She also reiterated the coalition’s demands to transfer the port to UN administration, allow Hadi government forces access to the port, and transfer the port’s revenues to a Hadi government-controlled branch of the Yemeni Central Bank. Al Hashimy stated that negotiations over al Hudaydah might lead to larger negotiations for the conflict. She added that the UAE views Griffiths’ framework for negotiations positively.[1]

My comment: The Saudi coalition demanding for unconditional withdrawing of the Houthi side.

(* A P)

Freedom, Independence, maintaining of #Yemen's sovereignty: Mohammed Al Houthi to the French Ambassador Chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi today stressed that the international community should deal objectively with Yemen. During his meeting with the French ambassador to Yemen, Christian Testot, al-Houthi expressed his surprise that the international community is still adhering to the #GCC states’ initiative in Yemen, which he considered a big contradiction. Al-Houthi noted that the international community abandoned rights, laws and charters of the United Nations under the temptation of Saudi money, and made way for the Saudi and Emirati regimes to tamper with Yemen, a democratic country.He called on France to gain the Yemeni people’s confidence and to have a neutral role toward the Yemeni issue.

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

(* B E P)

The US Must Build Saudi Arabia’s First Nuclear Reactors

Riyadh will get its atomic energy. The question is who gets the construction contracts — and the influence that goes with them.

For all the attention on Iran’s atomicambitions and the U.S.withdrawal from a deal meant to hold them in check, there is another nuclear story unfolding in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia intends to award the contracts to build its first two nuclear reactors next year, en route to building 16 of them by 2040. It is a matter of national security that the United States re-establish its leading position in the global nuclear trade by successfully pursuing this and similar projects.

While the idea of a Saudi Arabia with any nuclear capability may seem dangerous, it is also inevitable. The Kingdom has already received bids from companies based in the United States, but also in France, China, Russia, and South Korea, demonstrating a global willingness to supply nuclear technology. If the United States does not build them, another country will step in.

My comment: And again, the idea of US influence and hegemony worldwide. – And Saudi nuclear power is not seen as a problem at all, quite different to Iran’s ambitions. This is odd.

(** B K P)

How Weapons Made in Bosnia Fueled Syria’s Bleak Civil War

In the basement of a bombed-out al-Qaeda arms storage building in eastern Aleppo last year, I found a weapons log book from a mortar factory in Bosnia – with the handwritten name of one of their senior officials, Ifet Krnjic, on each page. It was dispatched from the Balkans with a cargo of 500 120mm mortars in January 2016. But now, in the forested heart of central Bosnia, I have found Mr Krnjic, who says his company sent the arms to Saudi Arabia.

Sitting on the lawn of his home south of the weapons-manufacturing town of Novi Travnik, he brings his finger down onto the first page of the log book which I showed him. “This is my signature! Yes, that’s me!” Krnjic exclaims loudly. “It’s a warranty for the 120mm mortar launcher – this is Nato standard. It [the shipment] went to Saudi Arabia. It was part of a supply of 500 mortars. I remember the Saudi shipment well. They [the Saudis] came to our factory to inspect the weapons at the beginning of 2016.”

This is astonishing. Not only does Krnjic, the 64-year old newly retired weapons control director of the BNT-TMiH factory at Novi Travnik, acknowledge his signature – but he says he recalls the visits of Saudi officials and military personnel to inspect the mortars before their shipment to Riyadh, and insists all such sales were strictly in accordance with the legal end-user certificates which his company obtained from all customers, stating that the weapons were to be used only by the armed forces of the nations which purchased them.

In the weeks that followed the mid-December surrender of the fighters in eastern Aleppo, the square miles of wreckage remained sown with mines and booby-traps. There were whole districts still cordoned off when I entered three former military barracks of the Islamist groups in February 2017, rubble sometimes blocking my path; stones, bricks, sheet metal and bomb fragments strewn across the roads and inside still standing, though badly damaged, buildings. Inside one of these, lying half-concealed amid iron fragments and field dressings, I found piles of discarded documents containing firing instructions for machine guns and mortars, all of them in English.

They also included weapons shipment papers and arms instruction booklets from Bosnia and Serbia, the pages still damp from winter rains and some stained by footprints. I stuffed as many as I could in the satchel I always carry in wars, later finding – in another building – a Bulgarian weapons shipment paper for artillery shells. In a deep basement of a third building in the Ansari district, with the words Jaish al-Mujaheddin (Army of the Holy Fighters) crudely painted but still visible on the front, its upper floors clearly bombed by Syrian or Russian jets, lay dozens of empty boxes for anti-armour weapons, all marked with their maker’s name – the Hughes Aircraft Company, of California. The boxes were labelled “Guided Missile Surface Attack” with stock numbers starting with the computer code “1410-01-300-0254”.

These papers, some of them lying amid smashed guns and pieces of shrapnel, provide the most intriguing paper trail yet discovered of just who is producing the weapons that have armed the Assad regime’s most ferocious Islamist opponents – and how they apparently reach the fighters of Syria via countries ‘friendly’ to the west. While claiming that he would have to “search” for documents on the end-user of the 2016 mortar shipment, Adis Ikanovic, the managing director of the Novi Travnik factory, acknowledged to me in his head office that most of his company’s exports went to “Saudi Arabia, probably” – by Robert Fisk

Vision 2030’s main attraction is “Neom”, a 26,000 square kilometer city to be built on the coast of the Red Sea, near the border with Egypt.

The Saudi government is banking on Neom to transform the country into an economic powerhouse. An official press release says the city will help “the country develop into a pioneering and thriving model of excellence”. On its face, this all sounds very exciting and progressive. But previous efforts by the Saudi government, as well as economic and institutional constraints, cast serious doubt on whether the project will succeed.

What makes Neom, and Vision 2030 generally, problematic is that it’s a top-down, centrally-directed plan — an attempt by the Saudi government to steer the economy in a specific direction. Saudi Arabia will front $500 billion to support Neom’s construction, with the hope of attracting other investors from around the world. It will be a special economic zone (SEZ), with a unique legal and regulatory environment, autonomous from the rest of the country.

We’re already seeing signs that should give the Saudis some pause. Foreign direct investment, which is essential to financing Neom in the long term, is at a 14-year low. It shrank to $1.4 billion in 2017, from $7.5 billion the year before.

Neom represents a “hail Mary pass” by the Saudi government, says James Gelvin, a professor of modern Middle Eastern history at UCLA. “There is a sense of insecurity on the part of the Saudi ruling family,” he told me. “One reason for that is the collapse of the price of oil between 2014 and 2016. Although that is rising at the present time, the Saudis see the writing on the wall”, with regard to the long-term ability to rely on oil revenue.

Ultimately, Saudi Arabia is not well-equipped to transform into a market economy, which means Neom’s lofty goals look unattainable. “80 per cent of the economy is dominated by the government, and obviously the largest revenue is oil,” said Gelvin, and “on top of that, corruption is already legendary in Saudi Arabia”.

cp9 USA

For decades, the autocratic regime of Saudi Arabia has been a stalwart ally of the US military, while oppressing its own people and attacking others in the Middle East, particularly in Yemen.

Here, the leader of Yemen's popular Ansarullah movement couldn’t be more accurate when he said Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are going to great lengths to further the agenda of the US administration in the Middle East region and please their masters.

In his words: Riyadh and Abu Dhabi regimes are struggling with mounting economic crises as they are pouring huge sums of money into the pockets of US statesmen. The US and Israel are doing their best in order to bring all aspects of Yemenis’ lives under their control. They are seeking to transform Yemen into a society beset with problems, diseases and ethical issues.

Few Americans know much about Saudi Arabia, but it is almost certainly America’s closest military ally in the Persian Gulf. For decades, its army has served as a proxy force for the US and its regional designs in the region.

In exchange for Saudi military favors and cash, Washington has long turned a blind eye to grave human-rights abuses and brute force committed by the autocratic regime against its own people. The United States is also ignoring one of the most evil and blatant assaults on humanity in Yemen.

The situation in Yemen is so bad that even American media outlets have finally acknowledged what the United Nations reports and activists have been saying for well over three years: The Saudi-led coalition’s brutal bombing campaign, which has ravaged Yemen and created a humanitarian catastrophe, would be impossible were it not for US support.

It comes a bit late, considering the US-backed bombing began in March 2015

Many media outlets are also saying what the United Nations and human rights groups have been saying for years: The United States is complicit in this carnage.

Many of these basic facts should be more than enough for the international civil society – particularly the UN – to step in, to blast the US and the Saudi-led coalition for enabling the humanitarian crisis that’s underway in Yemen.

Without a doubt, the humanitarian catastrophe is caused by the actions of the United States and by the actions of its NATO partners, such as Britain and France. The world community has a responsibility to stop the Saudis and their coalition, of which the US, Britain and France are a part, from using blockade and starvation as a weapon of war.

HOW A ONE-WORD LOOPHOLE WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR THE U.S. TO SELL WEAPONS TO GOVERNMENTS THAT KILL CIVILIANS

ARMS CONTROL EXPERTS are raising concerns about a possible loophole in the Trump administration’s new arms export policy, arguing that it gives the administration further cover to sell weapons to some of the world’s worst human rights violators.

But one change in particular may make it easier for American companies to sell weapons to governments that routinely kill civilians in conflicts by discounting killings that the governments claim are unintentional. The change could have a significant impact on sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — the top two U.S. weapons clients — both of which are engaged in a destructive bombing campaign in Yemen.

The loophole hinges on the insertion of one word in a section that is otherwise identical to the Obama administration’s conventional arms policy, which was issued in 2014. While the previous policy prohibited arms transfers to countries that perpetrate “attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians,” the Trump administration policy bars such transfers to countries that commit “attacks intentionally directed against civilian objects or civilians” (emphasis added).

“Depending on how this policy is implemented, this focus could make it harder for those in the U.S. government [with] legitimate human rights concerns to block or modify some proposed U.S. arms sales,” Goodman told The Intercept.

A new report confirming prisoner abuses in southern Yemen is amping up concern in Washington, DC. The report by Amnesty International, which details possible war crimes by a US ally in the region, is fueling debate over the US role in the Yemen war.

Amnesty’s report, entitled “God only knows if he’s alive,” published this month, confirmed the prison abuses documented earlier by the AP and Human Rights Watch.

The reports’ impact can be seen in Washington, DC, where US involvement in the Yemen war is being debated.

“The news now of the torture happening in these prisons is, frankly, just going to further radicalize the Yemeni people,” says US Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) — especially those who have been in the prisons or know those who are in the prisons.” Murphy says the forced detentions will engender resentment among Yemenis “against a coalition government that may eventually be formed — and against the United States.”

Murphy has campaigned to limit US involvement in the Yemen war since 2015.

Murphy indicates that he thinks US support for the Saudi-led coalition is bound to backfire.

“Everything that is going on inside Yemen is not seen as just the Saudis and Emiratis acting upon the Yemeni people,” he says. “The United States is seen as a vital member of that coalition. And so everything that the Emiratis are doing inside these prisons ultimately gets tied back to the United States.”

An official from the US State Department expressed concern about the now well-documented abuses attributed to the UAE.

“These allegations are disturbing,” the official told PRI. “The United States takes all allegations of abuse seriously. We call on all parties to the conflict, including the UAE, to treat prisoners and detainees humanely and to ensure that allegations of abuse are investigated quickly and thoroughly. All parties must act in accordance with international law, including human rights law and the laws of armed conflict.”

The official acknowledged the diplomatic challenge that involvement in the Yemen war presents to the US and its allies. “The UAE is a strong partner of the United States,” the official concluded. “We have regular discussions with them on many issues, including this.”

Murphy is unimpressed. “I read the statements from the State Department as almost totally completely empty words,” he says. “Personally, I know there are people in the State Department who think that our policy is wrong there. But they are working for a president who has decided to cast his lot with the Saudis despite the war crimes that they are perpetuating inside Yemen today.”

"If the parties want to show a genuine willingness to end this," says Rageh, “then what we need to see is an investigation into these violations. International community members with sway — like the United States and others — should be encouraging and pressuring these parties to conduct this investigations.”

US State Department: Secretary Pompeo's Meeting with UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen Martin Griffiths

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo met yesterday with UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen Martin Griffiths in Washington. The Special Envoy provided an update on his engagement with all parties on the conflict in Yemen. The Secretary thanked the Special Envoy for his efforts to advance a diplomatic solution to the situation in Hudaydah that avoids a further deterioration of humanitarian conditions on the ground. The Secretary underscored his support for the Special Envoy’s initiative and expressed the hope that all sides can work toward a comprehensive political agreement that brings peace, prosperity, and security to Yemen.

Comment: How are Yemenis meant to believe Pompeo 'underscored his support for the #UN Special Envoy’s initiative and expressed the hope that all sides can work toward a comprehensive political agreement that brings peace, prosperity, and security to #Yemen'?

Blowing the Horn: How the United States Can Reclaim the Strategic Initiative in the Bab al Mandeb

It is the center of the world’s hottest geostrategic real estate. The United States already has a sizeable share of the market with its military site at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. Yet the often-overlooked projection of American power at the intersection of Africa and Southwest Asia, relied on by at least four combatant commands, seems stuck in the past. Used to focusing on narrow counterterrorism objectives in Somalia and Yemen, U.S. national security leaders recently have noticed the explosion of Chinese, Saudi, Emirati, Qatari, and Turkish commercial and defense activities in the formerly sleepy neighborhood. The U.S. approach to this region is clearly due for an update. Yet how should the United States even begin to think about this region strategically?

Yet the explosion of commercial and basing competition is a new dynamic, and almost entirely the creature of two developments that Washington has struggled to influence: geostrategic competition among the Gulf states and the internationalization of the civil wars in Yemen and Somalia.

So, how should the United States proceed? It must think of the environment in at least three interdependent and overlapping dimensions: the Gulf crisis, regional relations in the Horn of Africa, and Chinese interests and objectives. In terms of the Gulf, the United States should update its policy to include considerations of Horn dynamics, leveraging the growing constraints on Iran in the region and seeking ways to bolster a common approach to a common challenge. The United States also should review its military and economic interests in the region to ensure it is not taking vital access for granted or ignoring burgeoning markets where the United States could be competitive.

In each case, the U.S. location in Djibouti can be a source of strength.

Comment: US imperialism in #Yemen and the Horn of #Africa. 8104 miles separate the US from Bab al Mandab and the war on Yemen is meant to allow 21st century geo-expansionism. At what cost? Ask any Yemeni

Comment by Judith Brown: this article is a piece of lecturing and lobbying on behalf of the world's hegemonic power. Let's face it, the UN actually controls it all already through its own military or that of its proxies.

Saudi Arabia has reportedly paid out more than $11 million to an institute run by former British prime minister Tony Blair in exchange for its advisory role.

The Sunday Telegraph reported on Sunday that the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change had received £9 million to offer the service.

The donations were made by Media Investment Ltd., a subsidiary of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group joint stock company, formerly chaired by the current Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud.

A spokesman for Blair’s institute claimed that he would not benefit from the donation as the money goes to the institute.

The institute “is a not for profit organization from which Tony Blair takes no personal remuneration,” he said. “The institute is committed to working for modernization and reform in the region and working for a regional solution to the peace process,” he added.

Sales were granted to 18 countries on the list, including China, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Israel, Egypt and Pakistan, compared to 20 different states in 2016.

The value of sales to Saudi Arabia, currently embroiled in a bloody conflict in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels where thousands of civilians have been killed and millions left in need of aid, alone totalled £1.13bn, the group said.

Letter from ten leading humanitarian NGOs to new UK Secretary of State

Meaningful action from the UK on Yemen at this stage would not only have an immediate impact to save countless lives, it would have long-term benefits at the local, regional and global levels. This would also demonstrate the Government’s strong commitment to the international order and the values the UK champions globally.

Last month, eleven leading humanitarian agencies wrote to your predecessor to express alarm at the deteriorating crisis in Yemen and urge the UK government to do more to press the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to ensure that the port city of Hodeidah is not attacked. Over 70 cross-party MPs have also now signed a letter urging the Prime Minister to use "all available means to end this catastrophic military assault", including removing material support from combatants and calling on her to make a statement condemning an attack.

Despite the welcome efforts of the UK to discourage an attack through private diplomatic channels, and those of UN Special Envoy to negotiate a peace agreement, we are very concerned that the current reported pause in the Hodeidah assault could end at any time. This would result in an immediate and rapid deterioration in the humanitarian situation. The situation is already desperate with over 75% of the population requiring humanitarian aid just to survive. It is est

We recognise the security concerns of Yemen’s neighbours, but without a rapid shift in course the country faces a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The UK, as a key ally of the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition, has a vital role to play in steering the coalition away from a military solution, and preventing further escalation by working with all parties to the conflict to deliver a ceasefire and lasting peace deal. As such, we request you to review the UK’s policy on Yemen as a matter of urgency to secure these goals, including reviewing support for the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition and suspending arms sales to any parties to the conflict while there is a risk they can be used to harm civilians in Yemen.

Tie-up raises questions over growing influence of Gulf finance in British media

The Independent has joined up with a media group that has close links to the Saudi royal family to launch websites across the Middle East and Pakistan in a deal that will raise questions about the growing influence of Gulf finance in the British media.

The joint partnership will see four Independent-branded sites launched in Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and Persian by the end of 2018.

Although the sites will be Independent-branded, the content would be almost entirely produced by Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG) journalists based in London, Islamabad, Istanbul and New York, with the Independent contributing only translated articles from the English-language website. The sites will be “supported by operations staff in Riyadh and Dubai”.

The websites will be owned and operated by SRMG, a publishing business whose chairman was until recently Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud. He left last month to take up a position as Saudi minister of culture.

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

(A P)

Film: #Saudi Arabia, which oversees the Great Mosque In Geneva, prevented the Algerian Salah Eddin Annabi from entering the mosque 3 years .. Because he asked a question to Sheikh Al Sudais Imam of the Holy Mosque about the war on #Yemen & the siege of Qatar

It seemed an irrational decision 20 years ago. DP World is one of the world’s largest maritime firms. From a squat office overlooking Dubai’s bustling Jebel Ali port, it directs operations in 40 countries. Most are in busy shipping hubs such as London and Rotterdam. But in the 1990s it started making surprisingly big investments in the Horn of Africa. It built a large port in Djibouti, and is now working on another in Somaliland.

So do the rulers of United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of whose components, Dubai, owns a majority stake in DP World. It is one of several Gulf states trying to gain a strategic foothold in east Africa through ports. Controlling these offers commercial and military advantages but risks exacerbating tensions in the region.

In 2016 DP World won a 30-year concession to operate the port of Berbera in Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991 (though no foreign government recognises it). Critics said the deal would hasten the break-up of Somalia. Djibouti was upset for different reasons. With a planned capacity of 1.25m containers, Berbera would erode Djibouti’s monopoly on Ethiopian cargo. Indeed, Ethiopia acquired a 19% stake in the port earlier this year. All this could cost Djibouti hundreds of millions in annual transit fees.

It would also cement the UAE’s place in a strategic region. Uniquely among Arab states, it tries to project military power far beyond its borders. The Horn ports all sit near the Bab al-Mandab strait, a vital choke-point at the mouth of the Red Sea.

As the Gulf states move in, however, they bring their own conflicts to a troubled region. Qatar helped to end the clashes between Djibouti and Eritrea and kept peacekeepers there for almost a decade. Then came the bust-up of 2017, when four Arab states, including the UAE, imposed an embargo on Qatar. Both Djibouti and Eritrea sided with the blockading states. Qatar pulled out its troops, and Eritrea soon seized the disputed territory from Djibouti.

Comment: Putting the war on #Yemen in the consequent perspective with the #UAE's imperialistic moves to colonise-control #Socotra, Southern #Yemen with the ports of #Aden and #Mukhalla, Bab el Mandab strait and, in the plans, #Hodeidah

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

Russia and Qatar have been in discussions about a possible sale of S-400 missile systems to Doha, TASS news agency cited the Russian envoy to Qatar as saying on Saturday.

The Russian envoy also confirmed media reports that Qatar and Russia had signed a deal on supplying Qatar with small arms, such as Kalashnikov assault rifles, and anti-tank weapons.

"As far as the air defense is concerned, the S-400 systems and so on, there are talks about this, but there is no concrete conclusion," Noor Mohammad Khulov, the ambassador to Qatar, was quoted as saying.

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

Trump Admin Increases Lockheed Contract That Could be Devastating for the People of Yemen

New contract adds $225 million in foreign military sales to an already approved $11.25 billion deal with Saudi Arabia.

Lockheed Martin was awarded a new defense contract on Monday, including $225 million for foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia. The contract is a modification to a previously negotiated agreement with Saudi Arabia to provide four multi-mission surface combatant ships (MMSC) to the Kingdom for $11.25 billion.

The fact that the ship is being offered to Saudi Arabia despite the problems with the program is a boon for Lockheed Martin, at a time when the program is under scrutiny.

Longtime Lockheed Martin lobbyist Marshall Brachman has spent the lastseveralquarters specifically lobbying Congress on the littoral combat ship program and foreign military sales, according to lobbying disclosures reviewed by Sludge.

The United States government awarded to a Lockheed Martin-led team, which includes Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), an Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA), to advance work in support of the construction of four Multi-Mission Surface Combatants ships, as part of the Foreign Military Sales program for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Fincantieri will be the builder at the Marinette yard in Wisconsin.

The UCA, awarded in an amount of up to $450 million, will fund detailed design and planning in support of construction, which will be performed by Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine. The Multi-Mission Surface Combatant is a lethal and highly maneuverable multi-mission surface combatant, which features the flexibility of the Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship steel mono-hull, built by the same team, an increased range of 5,000 nautical miles and speeds in excess of 30 knots, making it capable of littoral and open ocean operation, and able to confront modern maritime and economic security threats.

cp13b Mercenaries / Söldner

Sudan is not informing the families of its fallen soldiers that they have been killed in battle in Yemen, the head of the Houthis said yesterday.

In a post on Twitter, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi said: “The leadership of Sudan’s mercenaries in Yemen is not informing the families of those who had participated in the aggression about dead soldiers and officers, while military regulations provide that in case the martyrdom of one of its members was confirmed then his family should be notified within an hour, and the financial procedures should be carried out immediately . This confirms deliberate neglect.”

“Or does the Sudanese regime benefit from covering the foreign currency deficit through these funds before paying the families of those who were killed while participating in the aggression? Or is it a kind of circumvention by the military commanders?” he asked in another tweet.

“The Sudanese regime should respect its militias and soldiers, abide by the laws it has passed, and inform the families of its mercenaries who were killed in Yemen, according with the military regulations. It is the least thing they can do to return the favour for those who were pushed into Yemen’s holocaust. “

cp13d Wirtschaft / Economy

(* A E P)

Yemeni riyal continues to collapse in front of foreign exchange. And the central bank is helpless despite the Saudi deposit

Yemeni riyal continues to collapse sharply against foreign exchange, with the highest level reached months ago, and the exchange rate of US dollar 507 riyals in Aden, the interim capital (south of the country).

In January, Yemeni riyal arrived at 510 Riyals, before Saudi Arabia intervened to deposit two billion dollars in the Central Bank of Yemen for the recovery of the local currency, but it lasted less than six months until the riyal returned to collapse.

Bankers in the city of Aden said the exchange rate for the dollar has reached 507, while Saudi riyals has reached 134 riyals, while it may increase over the upcoming two days.

Despite the Saudi ambassador's announcement to intervene to save the local currency, the central bank seems to be completely helpless in the face of the collapse of the currency, despite the Saudi depository, which came to save the local currency from collapse.

In Sanaa, the price of the dollar reached 498.5, while Saudi Riyals reached 132 riyals, and the price will collapse in the coming hours due to the control of the banking market from Aden, the source said.

On the one hand, traders said that commodity prices have escalated over the past few hours, given the dollar's rise, which could herald a major humanitarian crisis, especially in the absence of salary stops.

Yemen's currency on Saturday fell to a record low against the US dollar, one US dollar is buying 506. Thanks to new governor of Central Bank and Saudi deposit of 2bn in the bank. Don't believe our government and Saudi/UAE coalition: the worst is yet to come in #Yemen.

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

Siehe / Look at cp6

cp15 Propaganda

(A P)

Yemeni government delivers written memo in reply to UN envoy to Yemen's proposals to put an end to the war in Yemen

Ahmed Obaid bin Dughr, Prime Minister of Yemen, delivered a written aide-memoire, to the UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffith in reply to the proposals he has earlier presented to President Abdrabbou Mansour Hadi of Yemen during his 10 July visit to Aden.

Bin Dughr handed over the replies to the committee in charge of studying the proposals of the UN envoy during a meeting in Riyadh today.

In his letter, bin Dughr confirmed his government's commitment to fair and comprehensive peace according to the references parallel to a commitment of the Iran-backed Houthi militias withdrawal from capital Sanaa, and other cities, thus, abdicating power in the capital for the legitimate government and handing over weapons to the State.

He underscored the importance of Iran-backed Houthi militia's showing good will before the start of any future consultations, through releasing all prisoners of war and the abducted, and facilitating the access of humanitarian and relief assistance to the needy in all governorates.

He confirmed that the reasons behind the current crisis in Yemen is, clearly speaking, the usurp of the legitimate power and the State, drawing the attention that the legitimate government is an aggrieved party of this conflict by the Houthi militias.

He demanded the UN to announce rejecting the coup as null and void, citing that his government has a long practice of providing full assistance to the efforts of the UN to stop the war while the Houthi militias, backed by Iran, managed to play fast and loose, and obstinate, leading to sending the endeavors of former UN envoy Ismail Ould Alchiekh to a failure.

An ironic aspect of the Houthis’ replication of Hezbollah’s methods and strategies is how they left garbage in the streets of Sana’a in 2016.

intelligence indicating the involvement of Hezbollah in setting up, running and managing communications systems in five locations across Yemen. This may explain the formal complaint made by Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani to the UN Security Council.

Hezbollah has been supporting the Houthi insurgents both logistically and militarily since the beginning of their coup in September 2014. It trains Houthi fighters in sabotage and subversion operations against the elected authorities.

In February 2016, a videotape found by Yemeni security forces at a location liberated from Houthi militia purportedly confirmed the involvement of Lebanese Hezbollah militia in supporting the rebels and plotting terrorist attacks in Saudi territory.

The video supposedly showed a Hezbollah field commander with a group of armed men during a training session and announcing preparations for a “special” operation targeting Riyadh. In December 2017, it was reported that three Lebanese Hezbollah operatives were killed in Hajjah province in western Yemen.

Hezbollah was one of the major parties behind the coup against legitimacy in Yemen. It played an even greater role from September 2014-March 2015 when Tehran established a direct air link with Sana’a that was used to strengthen the military capabilities of the Houthi militias. This was confirmed by leading military figures in the Yemeni Presidential Guard, who, after the assassination of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh last December, spoke of receiving military training from Hezbollah agents.

Nasrallah’s admission of supporting the Houthis represents a stark violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216, specifically Article 13, which prohibits countries and organisations from providing any military support to the Houthi militias.

Hezbollah’s violation of the article qualifies as a crime against Yemen and the entire region and places the perpetrator among the rogue organisations and parties seeking to aggravate the crisis in Yemen.

An ironic aspect of the Houthis’ replication of Hezbollah’s methods and strategies is how they left garbage in the streets of Sana’a in 2016, creating a scene reminiscent of the tons of rubbish in the streets of Beirut because of Hezbollah tactics in Lebanon. Except that this time, the garbage crisis in Yemen had more horrific consequences. Cholera broke out in 18 Yemeni provinces and hundreds of citizens died.

As part of its monitoring of the movement of ships in Yemen, the Arab Coalition supporting the Yemeni government announced that the Bahia Damas, a vessel carrying diesel for in Yemen has been stuck in the port of Hodeidah for 23 days, as the Houthi rebels refuse to unload it.

The rebel militia's continuous prevention of ships to unload their cargoes, is having a severe impact on the humanitarian situations in the province of Hodeidah and the rest of Yemen.

My comment: The background of this story is not known to me. Anyway, Houthis’ delays at Hodeidah harbour are used by Saudi coalition propaganda to deflect from the Saudi blockade.

(A P)

Houthi rebels are smuggling weapons – not relief supplies

In the last few days, the Saudi capital Riyadh was hit once again by Houthi rebels. Although the missiles could be intercepted, many of the debris landed in the embassy district of Riyadh. Over the course of these such attacks, Saudi civilians are repeatedly injured and killed.

These events should stimulate thought in the international community: where do the Houthi rebels receive missiles that threaten the civilian population of Yemen and its neighbouring countries? The answer is simple: with Iran, they have a willing supplier who provides them with rockets via the port of Hodeidah. The Houthi militias are being radicalized and supplied with Iranian religious extremism and weapons. The threat posed to the future of Yemen by the Houthi rebels and the threat to the security of a whole region is made possible above all by the theft of aid supplies and the smuggling of weapons through the port of Hodeidah.

But so far, attempts by the Yemeni government, the UN and the coalition to bring the Houthi rebels to the negotiating table have failed. They refuse to participate in serious negotiations. The repeated demand to put the port city of Hodeidah under the control of the United Nations is rejected. Even UN security inspections have failed to prevent the smuggling of Iranian weapons through the port, and plans to hand over control of the country to a neutral party are blocked by the Houthi militias.

Thus, the military coalition has little choice but to capture the port city of Hodeidah – By Khaled Hussein Alyemany, Foreign Minister of Yemen

My comment: The Hadi government’s Foreign minister really excretes a lot of propaganda, also look at the following articles. What’s the final goal of today’s propaganda. He himself tells it: “Thus, the military coalition has little choice but to capture the port city of Hodeidah”: Justyfing the assault against Hodeidah the Saudi coalition is eager to start, and to find an excuse – putting the blame on the Houthis – for all the horrible effects this assault will lead to. – It’s the Iran and the arms smuggling and the Houthis block aid and seize relief again and again. – And the fairy tale that all this should “force the Houthi rebels to the negotiating table”, as “they refuse to participate in serious negotiations”. It’s just the Houthis are refusing to accept preconditions of the Hadi government and the Saudi coalition, whioch require the Houthis must capitulate befor the start of these negotiations. – “The forces that are liberating Hodeida are committed to minimizing the damage to the civilian population and ensuring it receives to the necessary assistance”: Yes, the Saudi coalition’s aerial war and sea blockade exactly show what this really means.

(A P)

Yamani: Iran carried out aerial landings on islands near the west Coast

The evidence, which was monitored by the Coalition for the support of legitimacy and reports to a number of allied countries, reveals that the Iranians carried out landings on the islands near the western coast of Yemen, the “AL sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.

Al-Houthi is later smuggling what is being brought into the Yemeni interior, he added.

Yamani explained that some of those loads were sometimes reserved but noted that it was difficult to control those vast areas.

Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper: Yemen FM says Iran is using uninhabited islands in west Yemen to smuggle "things not identified yet" for Houthi militia. Here is the weird thing: he said it's difficult to monitor large areas off Yemen shores. Well, you are talking about islands, dude!!

Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Yamani revealed that his government was still waiting for Lebanon’s response to its complaint about Hezbollah’s involvement in the Yemeni conflict. Al-Yamani told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Yemen will talk to any country whose nationals are involved in the conflict.” The Yemeni foreign minister had previously sent a complaint to his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil over Hezbollah’s interference in Yemen and described the Iran-backed party’s actions as a violation of joint Arab treaties.

My comment: Nasrallah just showed solidarity with the Houthis and declared hat Hezbollah would be willing to support them – but he did not speak of any Hezbollah members actually in Yemen.

(A P)

Saada elders ‘never to give up’ in battle against Houthi militants

Tribal elders in Yemen’s Saada said they will never stop fighting to free the region from the control of Houthi rebels, who have ravaged a province that welcomed them decades ago. They also warned that negotiation and reconciliation with the armed group is not an option, given Iran’s interference in Yemen’s affairs through its backing for the terrorist Houthi militia. During a panel discussion on Thursday at the Saudi TV building, Saada elder Sheikh Fahd Talib Al-Sharfi said that prior to 2004, before the Houthis, the province was the food basket of Yemen, exporting 120 baskets of pomegranates a day and known for its grapes and coffee beans. He said the province had never been in conflict with Saudi Arabia and was an extension of the Arab Peninsula’s tribes, but that Iran, through its Houthi militias, aimed to destroy the great and deep connections linking Saada to its Arab roots. Al-Sharfi noted the resilience of the people of the province in the face of the Houthi assault, and their great sacrifices during the six wars since 2004, leading up to the fall of the province in 2014. He said Saada does not follow any cult or doctrine but welcomes all Yemenis of different intellectual and political schools. The biggest Salafist school in Yemen, Dar Al-Hadith madrassa, is in Saada, he added. He expressed his deep thanks and appreciation for the heroes of the Yemeni army and the supporting coalition forces who are putting their lives on the line.

My comment: Violating international law, Saudi Arabia had declared the whole Saada province a military target. Saada is the province which had been bombed more than all other Yemeni provinces. There will hardly be any symphathy for the Saudi side at all there. It’s disgusting to see that finding some people who willingly parrot the Saudi propaganda parols (or siding with any hegemonial power) is not very difficult. A bad case exactly 50 years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gust%C3%A1v_Hus%C3%A1k

(A P)

Jubbai: Any dialogue before the Houthi is broken militarily is a waste of time

Former Yemeni deputy Prime Minister Abdel Aziz Jabbari, a dialogue to resolve the Yemeni crisis before the military break-up, is a waste of time.

"I reiterate my conviction that any dialogue before the al-Houthi is broken militarily, the arrival of the legitimate forces in the vicinity of Sana'a and the liberation of the rest of Hodeidah, Taiz, and al-Bayda are a waste of time and a new repetition of the failure of previous consultations and dialogues," he said.

The United States has made mistakes in geopolitics (as powerful nations inevitably do), and we should acknowledge those. Even so, our nation has truly promoted these values abroad in myriad ways, as our enemies overwhelmingly have not. We should be proud of that American legacy, and we should want to honor and extend it as we can in the 21st century. It’s acceptable to have a few skeptics, but our conversations about foreign policy will be better and more productive if at least some people believe that America can be a force for good. If we’ve lost that spirit entirely, we may need to reconcile ourselves to reality of diminished influence and security for ourselves and our descendants.

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi condemned the latest remarks by Lebanese “Hezbollah” leader Hassan Nasrallah that his party has members in Yemen, saying that they have revealed Iran’s expansionist agenda in the region. Hadi added that his forces could strike Sanaa with artillery, but moral responsibility is preventing them.

The repercussions of the Houthi coup have been grave on Yemen and its women and children, who have been displaced by the militias. They have killed their fathers in their criminal war that has swept the majority of the nation through Iran’s military and financial backing, he told the BBC in an interview.

“We will remain, as always, advocates of peace and dialogue… we have made major concessions in this regards, but we are unfortunately dealing with a group that wants to eliminate the other,” Hadi added.

The humanitarian situation in Yemen demands that the international community exert more pressure on Iran to end its meddling in Yemeni affairs and respect national sovereignty and stop smuggling rockets to the militias that are being fired at Saudi Arabia, he stated. The humanitarian situation in Yemen demands that the international community exert more pressure on Iran to end its meddling in Yemeni affairs and respect national sovereignty and stop smuggling rockets to the militias that are being fired at Saudi Arabia, he stated.

On Wednesday, a Saudi airstrike targeted a home serving as a de facto shelter for the internally displaced in the residential neighborhood of al-Seifi in Yemen’s northwestern province of Saada, killing nine civilians and injuring five, mostly women and children.

Most of the victims belonged to the Khamlan family, who were seeking refuge in the home after fleeing the dangerous Baqim district. Six-year-old Ali Musfir Khamlan was among the few survivors of the airstrike. As volunteers began their frantic rescue efforts, he could be heard shouting, “I want my dad, I want mom.” Ali, a large white bandage wrapped around his head, had to be restrained as he continuously pleaded with paramedics to save his mother and father, both killed in the airstrike.

Hussein, a 30-year-old resident of the area, told Mintpress that “two raids targeted the home, we pulled 9 people out of the rubble including Ali`s mother and father as well as three of his brothers. Most of the victims were women and children.”

Ali, along with two of his brothers, were among the six survivors of the airstrike. Doctors at the Al Jamouri hospital, which suffers from a shortage of medical supplies, are working to save the lives of Ali’s relatives, both of his brothers sustained injuries to their head, spine, and jaw and need treatment not available in Yemen.

An emergency room doctor at the Al Jomouri Hospital told MintPress,

We received six wounded, most of them with very serious injuries, but we don’t have the advanced medical equipment needed to perform operations and we’re suffering from alack of medical staff and medicine.”

Ali, who whisked away by an ambulance crew while frantically searching the rubble for the dismembered head of his mother in a vain attempt to reattach it to her body, was already well-acquainted with the Saudi-coalition’s indiscriminate bombing campaign. He and his family were seeking refuge in the al-Seifi home after Saudi warplanes bombed their family home in the Baqim district located in Yemen’s mountainous northwestern province of Saada. That strike killed or injured ten members of Ali’s family.

As Ali’s 45-year-old aunt recounted, “my brother’s family fled their neighborhood in Baqim after Saudi airstrikes destroyed their house and killed many of our family members, only three children have survived the two bombings.” (photos)

Earlier on Saturday, a citizen was injured by Saudi missiles and artillery shells that hit residential areas, in Shida border district, in Saada. The US-Saudi Areal Aggression also launched a strike on Razih border district​​, resulted in destroying a citizen's house.

Friday: in Saada, A civilian was injured and .several houses and farms were hit by Saudi missiles and artillery shells.

13 civilians killed by al-Houthi missiles in Tahita since liberation by government forces

The al-Houthi militia continued to commit its crimes against civilians by firing rockets and Katyusha rockets into residential areas and villages, which were liberated by government forces.

"The toll of shelling by the militia against residential areas, in the city of al-Tahita, in the province of Hodeidah, in western Yemen, has risen to 13 since the city was liberated," said legal sources to Almasdar online.

Something happened on the 18th of July, 2018 at the #Riyadh refinery in #SaudiArabia. One report says that the Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked it with a drone while #ARAMCO said a fire broke out on account of an operational incident. We compare 18th vs 20th imagery for you. (images)